A short instructional YouTube lesson by Mary Kostka (Ohana Occupational Therapy) about hand dominance in children. It explains that hand dominance is usually established by about age five but can be as late as seven, describes mixed dominance (using different hands for different tasks) and ambidexterity, and recommends observing skill preference and using activities like tracing with stencils to encourage consistent hand use and improve handwriting skills. The presenter also gives personal examples of mixed dominance and invites viewer questions.
Questions this video answers
Usually by age 5, but sometimes not until age 7.
Use stencils so the child holds the stencil with one hand and traces with the other.
ohanaot.com
Aloha. Mary Koska here with Ohana Occupational Therapy. You can visit our website@ohanaot.com and this is our how to improve handwriting course. This lesson is about hand dominance, what to do if they haven't decided on being right handed or left handed. So first thing to know is that hand dominance is usually established by the age of five, but sometimes it's not established until the age of seven. So it's not totally abnormal to not quite have decided yet when they're young. So if you're going to help them decide on a hand, you really want to watch and see which one they seem more skilled with. And then one of the activities I like the most for establishing hand dominance is to use stencils because they have to hold the stencil with one hand and then they use the other hand to trace. And that is a really good activity for helping them define a more or develop a more refined skill with one hand. Another idea is that. Or another thing to know is that it's also normal to have a mixed dominance. And what that means is that you might be more skilled with one hand for certain tasks and the other hand for other tasks. As long as they're consistent with the one task, which side they're using, then that's okay. And mixed dominance is very normal. For example, I'm right eye dominant, so if I was to look through something, I'd look through my right eye, I write with my left hand, I cut with my right hand and I would throw a ball and kick a ball with my right. So really the only thing that I do with my left hand is my handwriting. And that's actually, I always wondered if I was abnormal because it seemed weird, but actually I've learned that it's very normal. The main, yeah, I'm normal. Isn't that nice to know? So, yeah, it's called a mixed dominance and it's actually pretty common. The main thing is that you want to be consistent with that task. What would be less normal is if I was switching back and forth all the time. Now, some people are truly ambidextrous, but most people, and you really want to encourage your kids to develop a preferred side because then they can get to a higher level of skill with it. So there you go, that's all about hand dominance. And if you have any other questions, you can put them down below and I'd be happy to answer them. Aloha. See you in the next video.
