Teaching · Related Services

Which hand picked it up, task by task.

Write down each task as it happens and the hand the child chose. The summary tells you whether one hand led this session, where the switches were and what to watch for next time.

Start a logWhat you get
$19one-time · every device you sign in on
Buy · $19

Included with Caveat Classroom and Whole-school licenses. Or get it in the Related Services toolkit, $99 for 152 items.

The hand use log

One record per observation. The example is made up.

Loading the form. If nothing appears, turn on JavaScript.

What you get

Teaching · Related Services$19 · included with Classroom and Whole-school licenses

What you finish with
A session record of the hand used for each task, the switches, how the other hand helped and whether reaches crossed the middle.
Who it is for
School occupational therapists and assistants, and early childhood and kindergarten teachers working with them.
Format
Browser log. One saved record per observation; printed with its summary or as a blank form; CSV; export and import a file.
Access
$19 one-time, yours on every device you sign in on; the tool opens once you are signed in with it. Included with Caveat Classroom and Whole-school licenses. Also in the Related Services toolkit ($99) and the Teaching Suite pass ($199), and 1 more bundle. Everything you type stays in this browser; nothing is sent to Caveat.
Where it lives
The Related Services space in Caveat Teaching.
Support
Questions about an order, access or a correction: team@caveatacademic.com.
the middle of the body
Drawn for this page. Whether a child reaches across that middle line, or swaps hands to avoid it, is part of what the log records.

How to use it

  1. Pick ordinary tasks the child would do anyway: drawing, cutting, snack, building, throwing.
  2. Put materials in the middle, so the child chooses the hand.
  3. Mark the hand that picked up the tool, and note a switch the moment it happens.
  4. Fill the both-hands checklist at the end of the session.
  5. Log again on another day before you draw a conclusion.

Start a log

What the log covers

Why log it

Hand preference usually settles over the preschool and early school years, and many children show a consistent preference by around age 5 or 6. A record across several sessions shows a pattern far better than one memorable moment.

What it is not

The log describes; it does not decide. It is not a test of handedness, and it is never a reason to push a child toward the right hand. Left-handedness is a normal variation.

When to look closer

A child who still swaps hands constantly at 6 or 7, avoids reaching across the middle, or seems to favor one hand because the other is weak may need an occupational therapy evaluation through the school team.

Sources

  1. Scharoun, S. M., and Bryden, P. J. (2014). Hand preference, performance abilities, and hand selection in children. Frontiers in Psychology, 5, 82.
  2. Case-Smith, J., and O’Brien, J. C. (Eds.). Occupational Therapy for Children and Adolescents (7th ed.). Elsevier, 2015: chapters on hand skills and bilateral coordination.
  3. American Occupational Therapy Association. Occupational Therapy Practice Framework: Domain and Process (4th ed.), 2020.
  4. McManus, C. (2002). Right Hand, Left Hand. Harvard University Press: on left-handedness as normal variation.

The example child and tasks are made up. Support: team@caveatacademic.com.