Does your toddler know their left from their right? Mine does and she's only 2.5! Well, about 70% of the time she does. We practice left and right every day. There are so many simple activities you can do together to practice this important life skill. Here are 10 of our favorites:
1. Paint hands different colors
In Montessori philosophy, red and blue are important colors when introducing the child to new concepts. That's why you'll see Little Man's teacher painting his hands these colors. Any contrasting colors will achieve the same result. The idea is to show that one hand is left and the other is right. If you do this activity multiple times always use the same colors. Then, when you're doing other activities, you can prompt your child by reminding them of the colors you used for each hand.
2. Go on a walk and give verbal directions
We do this one all the time! It's so simple to incorporate into every day. You can go on a walk somewhere or just let your toddler walk while doing the grocery shopping! Okay, so it does take a little training on your part to teach your child how to walk in front of you without running into anyone else or the street, or running away, or grabbing things off the shelves, etc., but it's totally worth it! Basically, you just have to let them walk in front of you and then tell them whether to go straight, left, or right. If they start to go the wrong way, gently correct them with either a reminder of the color hand or by saying, "No, that's left. I want you to turn right." At first, they'll probably just be guessing so they've got a 50/50 chance, but once you do this routinely, you'll be amazed by how they respond.
3. Play Twister
You loved this game when you were a kid, right? Then bust it out and play with your toddler! Not only will you be practicing colors, and left and right, but your toddler will get a kick out of it! Mine loves spinning the arrow (a fine motor skill in itself!) and watching mommy get all tangled up.
4. Play capture the scrunchie
Never heard of this one? Well, that's because I made it up! I put a scrunchie on each wrist (we use red and blue just like the paint) and then I run around the backyard. Little man has to capture the scrunchie from whichever side I call out. If he goes after the correct scrunchie, then we switch and he gets to run around. This one's great because then he gets to practice saying left and right too!
5. Play Simon Says
"Simon says wave your right hand." Yup, it's that simple. Play Simon Says just like when you were a kid, but make sure to tell them which hand to use and correct them when they use the wrong one. We started out pretty easy with this one, just correcting and not saying, "Simon didn't say wave your left hand. Simon said wave your right hand." But, once he got better at it and understood the game more, we could start saying things like that.
6. Paint their fingernails
Yes, boys too! They're young and it's fun so don't get hung up on traditional gender roles. Also, a good idea to use the same colors as when you painted their hands. I love this one because mom gets a pedicure too (I don't do manicures because I work with my hands and they get chipped too quickly)! And bonus: if you leave it on, it helps with all the other activities!
7. Trace their hands
Simple and quick! Trace their hands and label them. Then let them color them in. Sometimes little man fills them in with stickers!
8. Play ball
Dribble, roll, and throw. Use this one at whatever skill level your child is at. All you do is play ball together and tell them which hand to use.
9. Guided finger painting
Get the finger paints out and have fun guiding your child through a series of verbal directions. This one can be as simple or complex as you want it to be! Just practice right and left by telling them which hand to use or practice colors too by telling them which color to use with which hand. You can even practice finger names by telling them to paint with their thumb, pointer, middle finger, ring finger, or pinkie.
10. Do the Hokey Pokey
You can sing this one with your kiddo or my personal favorite tell Alexa to play it!
Your child is never too young to start learning their right from their left. We started talking to ours about left and right as soon as they started to reach for things. We simply stated which hand they were reaching with and as they grew older we got more complex, eventually coming up with these fun activities and games.
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