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As a parent, you might be wondering when you will find out whether your child is right or left-handed.

Roughly 10% of the population are left-handed, which means that they consistently favour using the left hand over the right for lots of activities like writing, painting or even picking up a cup of tea.

But you might have to wait a while before you figure out your little one鈥檚 hand preference. We chatted to Occupational Therapist Lindsay Carr to find out more.

When do children develop a preferred hand?

鈥淗andedness can develop anytime during the pre-school years,鈥 says Lindsay. 鈥淵ou can sometimes see it in very young children, even at one year old or less sometimes. But that's not very common.鈥

At this young age, babies are likely to use both hands equally and swap them all the time. Often, babies will just use the hand closest to what they want to pick up or whichever is most convenient.

A hand preference usually develops between the ages of 18 months to 4 years old.

Lindsay explains, 鈥淎t this stage there isn鈥檛 necessarily a fully dominant hand, but there is perhaps a preference for a hand.鈥

鈥淚t might be that this hand is the one they tend to swap toys into for more complex tasks, or the one they reach out for things with. But I wouldn't say that actual handedness (hand dominance) develops until between 3 and 6 years.鈥

Every child is unique and develops skills at different times and in different ways. Give them space to explore with both hands and try not to push them to use one over the other when they鈥檙e not ready.

Portrait of a smiling infant playing with colorful plastic balls.
Image caption,
Babies often use both hands equally and swap all the time. They will often grab objects with the hand that is closest to it.

Position toys or activities in front, and to the centre, of your child. This is so that they can choose which hand to use rather than using the hand closest to the toy.

Why are some people left-handed?

The exact reason why people have different hand preferences is unknown.

Many believe that left- and right-handedness is linked to our genetics. However, scientists do not know which bits of DNA control it.

And even though we know a baby won鈥檛 show their hand preference for a few years after birth, Peter Hepper, from Queen's University in Belfast, has performed an experiment which shows that babies have a hand preference when they鈥檙e inside the womb.

He found that nine out of 10 foetuses preferred sucking their right thumb, mirroring the familiar pattern in the general population. And when he followed those children up many years later, the babies who sucked their right thumb in the womb became right-handed, and the ones who preferred their left thumb remained left-handed.

Portrait of a smiling infant playing with colorful plastic balls.
Image caption,
Babies often use both hands equally and swap all the time. They will often grab objects with the hand that is closest to it.

What age can children learn to hold a pen, colour and draw?

鈥淚 think it's really difficult to put a definitive age on it,鈥 says Lindsay. 鈥淚t鈥檚 very much down to the individual child.鈥

鈥淔ormalised schooling starts when a child is four and, within that reception year, they will look at mark making.鈥

Mark making is a term used when a child creates different patterns, lines, textures and shapes. This may be on a piece of paper, on the floor, or on an object or surface.
A 2 1/2 year old toddler girl paining with water colors using her left hand.
Image caption,
Handedness works hand-in-hand with a child鈥檚 general motor development, not even just their fine motor skills, but their whole-body movements.

Mark making forms the basis of writing skills.

鈥淚 wouldn鈥檛 expect a functional pen grip to be used consistently until a child is around five or six,鈥 Lindsay explains.

鈥淎t this age, their little hands continue to develop and their muscles develop too.鈥

Babies have about 300 bones at birth. These eventually grow together to form the 206 bones of adults. This process, called ossification, is continuous until 25 and affects their hands ability to write.

鈥淵oung children have far more bones in their hands because they haven鈥檛 fused together yet. So all the muscles and bone structures that need to be in place for writing aren鈥檛 fully formed.鈥

Lindsay says children need a good foundation of both gross and fine motor skills.

鈥淥nce they're confident and competent and using their hands in play activities, all of these mark making skills will develop with the fully dynamic pen grip being almost the last thing they learn.鈥

A 2 1/2 year old toddler girl paining with water colors using her left hand.
Image caption,
Handedness works hand-in-hand with a child鈥檚 general motor development, not even just their fine motor skills, but their whole-body movements.

What are fine and gross motor skills?

Gross motor skills are skills children develop using their whole body.

鈥淚t鈥檚 being able to use your legs, your arms, your trunk, your body to make movements.鈥

Once children have that strength and stability that comes from mastering these whole-body, larger motor skills, they will be able to start learning to use their arms and hands for more precise movements.

These precise movements are called fine motor skills. They involve small muscles working with the brain and nervous system to control movements in areas such as the hands, fingers, lips, tongue and eyes.

Gross motor actionsFine motor actions
RollingHolding a pen
SittingCutting with scissors
WalkingUsing a knife and fork
CrawlingPutting clothes on
JumpingDoing up buttons

How can you help your child develop their motor skills?

Smiling mother in a wheelchair playing with her little daughter on a slide in a playground. Children's games concept.
Image caption,
Getting outside and going to a play park is a great way to boost your child's gross motor skills.

鈥淚 think the key is to give your child many opportunities with lots of different activities,鈥 Lindsay says.

鈥淚f a child sits in front of a TV or a screen a lot, they're not exploring their bodies enough. They're not learning what they can do and what they struggle with, and then they haven't had the opportunity to learn from that.鈥

When it comes to fine motor skills, the same applies. Giving your child a lot of opportunities to explore with their hands, doing a variety of tasks, will build their skills.

鈥淪o building, drawing and mark making are all good examples. It鈥檚 also good to explore different textures, such as sand, water, slime (made from cornflour and water), bubbles and play dough.鈥

These activities and opportunities do not have to cost a lot of money. 鈥淔or gross motor skills, you could just take a walk around your local area,鈥 says Lindsay. 鈥淥r create obstacle courses in the house, which involves lots of whole-body movements taking weight through the arms and legs.鈥

You don鈥檛 have to overthink this either - some of this play will just come naturally into your everyday interactions with your child.

Smiling mother in a wheelchair playing with her little daughter on a slide in a playground. Children's games concept.
Image caption,
Getting outside and going to a play park is a great way to boost your child's gross motor skills.
Gross motor activitiesFine motor activities
Throwing ballsBanging a pan with a wooden spoon
Playing skittlesBuilding with blocks
DancingPlaying board games
Indoor obstacle courseCooking activities - stirring, measuring, sifting
Going to a play parkArts and crafts activities

For more inspiration of activities that can help develop motor and language skills, you can check out the bank of Tiny Happy People activities for ages 0-5.

Health visitors, schools and nurseries monitor motor skills and can let you know if there are any concerns about your child鈥檚 motor development. If you have any specific concerns about your child鈥檚 motor development, you can talk to your health visitor or make an appointment with your GP.

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