Activities to Help Teach Your Child to Remember the Right Side

My Hands Free Printable Chart

Young children find it hard to remember which side of their body is the right side and which side is the left. It takes practice.

In Islam it’s important to know the difference because, not only do we use our right hand to eat with but also we need to start many things with our right. We begin on the right, we pass things onto our right first, we sleep on our right side, we put clothes on our right side first and we put our right shoes on first. There are so many other instances that we use our right first. It is the preferred side and it is a sunnah.

With young children, you have to be constantly taking food out of their left hand and put it into their right hand. Parents don’t give up. Just keep doing it because one day your child will remember.

To help your child remember his or her right side, try these activities.

1. Sing Fish Alive

Sing: 1 2 3 4 5 Once I caught a fish alive (raise each finger on your right hand as you count)

 6 7 8 9 10 then I let it go again (raise each finger on your left hand as your count).

Why did you let it go? (raise your hands and shoulders as if asking)

Because it bit my finger so (raise your fingers and wiggle them)

Which finger did it bite? (keep wiggling your fingers)

This little finger on my right (raise your right hand with your little finger up)

If you are singing this facing your child then you would need to do everything on your left hand so your child will see your reflection and copy your reflection.

2. Sing The Hokey Pokey

Sing: ‘You put your right hand in, You put your right hand out, You put your right hand in and you shake it all about. You do the hokey pokey and you turn around. That’s what it’s all about.’ 

Do the appropriate actions to go with the words. Other things you can put in are right foot, right side, right elbows and so on. You could do the left side too if you wish.

3. Trace Your Child’s Right hand

Trace your child’s right hand. Let him or her colour them in and cut them out. Stick this onto the wall or fridge and every time s/he walks past, ask ‘where’s your right hand?” and place it on the cut out.

4. Download Hand Chart

Download the free hand chart printable above, laminate and stick onto the wall. Tell your child the right hand is the green one. Ask your child ‘Which is your right hand?” and have her/him match it to the green hand.

5. Read ‘What Did You Say?’ (Emaan Reading Series)

The first story in this book is about the sunnah of putting on the right shoe first. Read this to your child. For the activity, trace your child’s feet onto a piece of paper. Label the right foot. Have a little discussion about which is the right foot. Have your child paint, colour or decorate only the right foot. Hang this near the shoe rack as a reminder of which foot is the right foot.

How do you teach your child about right-handedness? Let me know in the comments below.