Establishing a dominant hand / preferred hand.  Students need to establish a dominant hand for activities such as coloring, drawing, writing, cutting, eating and getting dressed.  It is important to establish a dominant hand so a child can complete automated tasks well and therefore allow their brain to process other cognitive demands.  Children who don’t have a dominant hand but instead switch hands to complete a task may struggle to complete fine motor movements that require “muscle memory” such as cutting on a line or writing the letters of the alphabet.  Establishing a dominant hand also allows the student to learn to use their non-dominant hand as a “helper hand”. The “helper hand” is important to assist the dominant hand for activities such as holding a piece of paper while writing or cutting .  You can help a student establish a dominant hand by doing activities that require a dominant hand and helper hand such as: screwing on lids to jars, lacing cards, zipping baggies, tracing over templates, peeling stickers off and putting them into a sticker book and coloring on small pieces of paper.  Having a dominant hand is essential to succeeding in school! More info here:

http://www.ot-mom-learning-activities.com/hand-dominance.html

http://ensc.ss5.sharpschool.com/UserFiles/Servers/Server_3056961/File/Migration/Occupational%20Therapy/Activities_to_Encourage_Hand_Dominance.pdf