Occupational Therapy Newsletter
Volume 21
November 2011
Hand Dominance
When one hand is consistently used more than the other hand and is
more skilled at tasks than the other hand,
then that hand is considered to be the dominant hand.
Hand preference begins to develop between the ages of 3 and 4,
However, it can develop as late as 8 or 9 years old.
The importance of hand dominance:
This will help children to develop accuracy and
speed with fine motor tasks, particularly
handwriting. It is far better to have a
specialized hand to do the job well than two
mediocre hands.
It is important to remember that the opposite
hand or non-dominant hand is not ignored, it is
used to assist with activities. It becomes the
“helper” hand.
Screening activities for hand dominance:
Try presenting the object directly in front of
the child and encourage the child to finish the
activity with whichever hand they started
with.
The child can then choose a different hand
once the current task is completed.
It is never recommended to encourage one
hand over the other unless it is evident that
the child consistently initiates an activity with
the same hand.
Activities to encourage hand dominance:
• Brain Gym movements that encourage
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crossing the midline.
Screwing lids on and off jars.
Assembling nuts and bolts.
Legos or other assembly toys.
Hammering or using a screw driver.
Using tools such as tongs and scooping with
a spoon.
Pick up games such as pennies, buttons,
beans, or any other small items and then
try putting them into a small container.
Encourage coloring on small pieces of paper.
Where one hand has to stabilize the piece
of paper.
Ball games or bean bag games.
Lacing cards, bead stringing.
Bowling.
Playdough and cookie cutters.
Cut or snip paper.
Sharpening pencils.
Smart board or white board activities.
Trace a stencil on the board.
Do not tell the child that she or he is being
tested. Let the child pick up the testing
materials; do not hand them to the child.
Keep a tally of the procedures.
http://www.ot-mom-learning-activities.com/handdominance.html
Adrienne Chum OTR/L and Charisse Courteau OTR/L