Parents often ask me “At what age can children recognize left from right?” or “When do kids stop confusing left and right?”
Kids can tell left from right as early as 3 years of age. Every kid has a bank of words in their brain. For every kid, the bank is a different size.
Some kids need to hear a word 700 hundred times before they “know” the meaning of that word and can use it. Some kids, like those with learning difficulties, need lots more. Keep saying it to add to your child’s bank.
But…
Never, never, never teach right with left at the same time. This is the mistake that creates adults with difficulties with left and right or difficulties separating “b” from “d”. Never teach them together.
Pick one. If your kid is right-handed, teach right first. If he or she is left-handed, teach left. Talk about “the right hand” (or side) and “the other hand” (or side) for a long time before you introduce the left.
I am a special education teacher. You won’t believe how many problems there are only because similar things were introduced together and the kids (and grown ups) can’t tell which one is which.
So the age is not the important thing, but how you learn it.
Happy parenting,
Ronit
Thanks for finally explaining why some kids have a difficult time learning right from left. Today my grandson had a problem remembering which leg he had used during some feat of greatness he was telling me about and had to have help recalling which leg it was and he is age 11. He is special ed so it kind of worried me when he was telling me. Maybe his parents tried too hard to help him learn left from right?
Elieen,
Thanks for writing.
Regardless of if he is special Ed or not, when teaching it together creates a “bug”in the brain.
The solution is to go for 2-3 weeks of only focusing on the right side. If you ask him several times a day to lift his right hand, after a while the brain will record it.
The games when you have to use once right hand or left are not healthy at all to play when teaching direction. ( again, regardless of if the child is special Ed or not.)
We call this teaching difficulty and not learning difficulty.
Both, by the way, can be easily fixed.
Happy day
Ronit
My daughter is almost 20 months old and can consistently show me her left or right hand, foot, eye, ear, cheek, leg, arm, etc. I did not do anything to “teach” her these besides consistently narrating what I was doing as I dressed her from pretty much birth. “Now let’s put your left shoe on your left foot,” etc.
Amanda,
Most kids will have no issue with it.
Some kids will.
This is why we encourage parents / teachers to teach it separately, just in case.
My daughter learned it on her own basically she’s 3 and the only “teaching” she’s had is her dad using the words left and right when asking for something and she just picked up in like a week between left and right hands feet and when grabbing objects but I did have a major problem with left and right and my parents spent forever teaching both I also had a hard time with d and b and sadly sometimes still put the wrong one of not paying attention
Elsie,
Most kids will be Ok if you talk about them together. This is why we say it is better to teach it separately. You never know if the child you are teaching might or not confuse between them.
If you confused b and d ( some also confuse them with p) than you are an amazing example to why you need to separate the teaching.
My child just turned two and has known his left from right for a long time and I taught them together! He is very precocious and learns fast in everything though. But he really does know the difference. I can test him at any moment of the day and he’ll get it right 95% of the time unless he’s playing around and wants to tease. He knew the difference 75% of the time when he was 18 months. 3 seems late to me to teach them. You underestimate children’s abilities!! I think most parents do. My child knew all of his colors at 15 months, while most of my friends children didn’t learn until 3 years. It just depends on if you teach them or not! You have to make it all fun and games because children learn by playing. If you do that I small child CAN learn anything.
Aruth,
This is wonderful.
My daughter was the same and a group of children in my early childhood center were the same too. They could tell right from left and had no problem identifying directions at the age of 2. Most of them could read and do prep or grade 1 math at the age of 3.
When children have some challenges, teaching simultaneously may create a problem.
I use this rule just in case and I recommend people to do when teaching 6 and 9 or b and P or d. Why take the risk?
In schools, many kids confuse letters or numbers looking the same and people say they have Dyslexia – NO they don’t! Their teacher thought all kids are the same and taught all of the in the same way.
I like the concept of introducing learning early and if you teach through games, you are right, they can learn everything. (I have hundreds of kids around the world that are a proof for it)
Officially, you start worrying if they cannon do it by the age of 3.
I disagre. My daughter named right and left body parts correctly before she turned 2 and we taught them simultaneously.
Swapna,
2 years and 7 month is early to know the difference.
I think she knows the difference but she can’t feel the inconvenience of putting the shoes in the wrong foot.
Being able to say which side is which requires analytical ability,much like learning the concepts of big and small. It is the same dog but we say it is big when it is … and we say it is small when it is… your daughter has a good understanding of it.
About swapping sides of shoes:
There is nothing to be concerned about. She will play with it until she recognises that the reason we put the right shoe in the right foot is to feel comfortable and the way we feel inside the shoe is a good way to tell. Some kids’ shoes designed in such a way they can’t tell the difference using their kinesthetic (physical) feeling so it seems the same to them. An arch and high heals can really help and support in the recognition ( I would not recommend to use that as strategy)
You can play a game putting shoes on with eyes covered and only using the feeling as a guide.
Another thing you can do is tell her the buckles is always outside/ inside the foot.
Another idea is attache something to the right hand corner of the right shoe and left hand corner of the left shoe and say that this thing needs to be above the foot’s small finger.
I think some kids experiment and it is wonderful they can make fun of themselves and experiment. My eldest used to sit in the toilet backwards and go with a sweater and boots to day care – 40 degrees outside ( Summer in Texas, USA) – nothing to be concerned about – just experimenting.
Happy day
Ronit
Hi Ronit,
My daughter is 2 years 7 months old. She always wears her shoe in the wrong foot. But if you asked her which one was her right hand she often shows the correct one. I did teach her left and right at the same time. Is there any reason for concern ? What is the typical age that a child knows her left from right.
Please let me know.
Hi Kristina,
I think when you have kids that loves learning new things, you can look in the mirror and say to yourself:
“well done, I did it!”
Curiosity is a great motivation tool.
Happy day
Ronit
Thank you so much! What a wonderful answer. I am just glad that he loves to learn new things. It is just so very amazing how fast he picks things up.
HI Kristina,
Our perception of normal is not really healthy for our kids.
If kids can do something that amazing, we cannot argue with this.
It is not expected of a child 2 years old to know his alphabet or to know their numbers but it is not expected because we underestimate their ability, not because they can’t.
I worked with many young kids age 1.5 to 5 and they could do things that people never believed they could. They were normal kids in an early childhood center with us teachers telling them, you can do anything you want.
Let me ask you this,
Is it normal for a a group of 2-3 years old to sit around a table and do a 240 pieces puzzle, together and complete it?
Well, it depends who you ask?
In the center in Singapore, that was the normal thing and the kids were “regular” kids that no one said to them “this is too early for you!” “You’ll learn this at school”
Your son is smart kid if he figured this out at such an early stage but he is perfectly normal kid living in a place where people allow him to excel.
Keep teaching him!
keep exposing him to new things!
Even if it means that at the age of 5 he will do age 10 things, keep telling him he is awesome and wonderful and smart and normal!
And if one day he asks you why he is different you tell him that all the kids are smart, they just don’t know that!
It worked for me, still does.
My son is 14 years old, he is in grade 11 and excels in everything he does and he is friendly and sociable and funny and talented and this is how we dealt with him being so smart. So he is convinced now that it is perfectly normal to be smart and that other kids are smart but they just don’t know it.
Hello, On son’s 2nd birthday in December he recognized and could recite the alphabet in order. A few weeks later I brought out a puzzle that I had been saving for him that had the numbers 0-9. I was going to teach them to him, but to my suprise he already knew them! Then earlier this month (he will be 30 months in a week) I taught him his left and right hand once and now he will show you whichever one you ask for every time! Is all of this normal for this age?
Karen,
20 month is really early. That is awesome.
Kid are like sponges, you teach, talk and they absorb.
Some kids are natural and do not need many agents to learn something and it is wonderful that your son is like that.
I think if kids are interested in something, this is the right age to teach them.
Underestimating kids abilities is never a good idea.
Ronit
Parenting Classes
My son knows right from left at 20 months. I did the same as the blogger above and taught him while putting on shoes. I didn’t even know he knew until my husband asked him which hand is the right hand and he knew. We then asked where the left hand was and he knew- I still didn’t believe it so we went though right and left feet then right and left cheeks, then knees. He knew every time. I am still amazed so I ask him every day and he knows every time. My mother always said kids are like sponges at that age and it really seems true. We are now working on numbers and the alphabet. Good luck everyone and don’t underestimate the ability of your children at any age.
HI J and Amber,
This is amazing your kids knows right and left from such an early age. It is wonderful.
My own kids were early kids too and I was very happy. you should be happy too.
In special Education, when kids cannot tell right from left it is usually an indication that something is wrong. My job was to find out if this was due to wrong teaching or processing problem.
If it is wrong teaching – the solution is different( sometimes harder because there is a defected path in the brain already and kids use this path to process other information and “contaminate” other functions)
If it is a processing problem – the solution is different. ( in my opinion easier because it is usually isolated and localized)
It is like giving a drug to remove scar or use a laser. The drug damages other functions, the laser is local.
Some parents do not know how to enhance their kids’ learning. This is fine.
However, no parent would like to create a problem in their kids’ learning. This is why I wrote this post.
It is a tip that Special Education professional give to avoid creating a problem from nothing.
No, not at all, you should not expect any difficulties in the future.
On the contrary, you can be sure by now that your kids do not have the learning difficulties associated with distinguishing right from left.
Happy Parenting
Ronit
My son learned right from left at 2 years 2 months old. He learned them at the same time and has no difficulty. I taught while putting on his shoes…simply saying, right shoe, and left shoe…then after a week or so I’d ask him for his right foot or his left foot. He learned it REALLY quickly. He knows right hand, left hand, right foot, left foot, and can discern which door of the car he should exit if I tell him the right side or the left side. We’ve had no complications with him learning the two things at the same time. Should I be expecting difficulties to arise later on?
My daughter is only 29 months old and knows her left and right. I was so shocked the other day when she told me on her own. She said this is my right hand and then showed me the other and said this is my left hand. She has been a quick learner since 10 months old and has a very large vocabulary for her age but I must admit the only way she could have learned was from driving in the car and she always aske which way are we going next so I always tell her either we are turning right and show my right hand or we are turning left and show my left hand. I thought maybe it was a fluke that she got them correct so I have asked her several times since then and she hasn’t once got it wrong.
Hi Andrew,
I think most of the kids do not mix. This tip is very relevant when parents or teachers notice there is a confusion.
Notice that when you ask:
Show me your right hand?
or
showing him a hand and asking ” which hand is this hand?”
Are totally different questions.
I believe the first one is harder.
You are so right about the confusion between right and correct. This is why it is better to say right hand or left hand.
Thanks for sharing
Happy day
Ronit
Hi Ronit,
Interesting post. I know a couple of people that have this problem, maybe due to this.
Didn’t think of this when I told my son which hand was which (about a month ago, when he was 25 months, just to see if he got them). Thankfully he seems to not be mixed up – I found your post after he calmly told me at breakfast, out of nowhere, that this hand is his right, and this is his left.
After reading your post, thought I’d stick to one for a bit, the right.
So, in this new initiate, I sallied forth with “which is your right?”. He got it correct, then put out his left for identification. Before trying “the other”, i thought i’d ask him which he thought it was. No hesitation there – “left”!
Ah well, good thing my poor teaching hasn’t hurt!
The one thing that I’ve been careful not to do (and have told off others for doing so) is to respond to a correctly identified left hand with “that’s right!” – “that’s correct!” is much less confusing!
Andrew
Patricia,
No, I do not think there will be a problem.
I think it is wonderful that he learned it from the GPS.
All you need to do is check that he can recognize right from left outside the car. The problem kids have is the transfer the learning from one situation to another.
The good think about the GPS is that a second after it says ” Turn right in 100 meter” you have an immediate feedback and the car turns to the right. So, No, I do not think there will be a problem with that.
but…
Now you know what to do in case you find a problem. If you notice any confusion, stick to one side ( usually the one they write is is the easy way)
He must be a smart kids at such a young age to learn from the GPS.
Happy day
Ronit
HI Ali,
I am glad you think it is interesting.
Come again,
Ronit
My son is almost 3 yrs old. He knows his left from his right. I didn’t teach this to him. I think our GPS in the car did. I hope it’s okay, because he probably learned them around the same time through no trying on my part. Do you think it will be okay or will he be confused later? He seems to know them well.
That is a really interesting post, thank you.
Hi qtpies7, ( I like your name)
I had it too when I was young. I really thought it is because something is wrong with me until I studied special education and realised I was OK. Did you find tricks to tell which one is which?
Ronit
That is really interesting. I have a hard time with right left.