Children’s hands give valuable insights into their inner workings and can reveal how to bring the best out of them. Parents can understand their child in a deep way, learn about how they are stimulated, how they think, feel and how to give them what they need. Here I will look at some children’s handprints and explore key areas that would help the parent.
Case Study: The Complex Thinker
The first aspect I want to look at is behaviour and attention span. This is something that affects many children. There can be many different reasons for being hyperactive, and we can look for clues in the hand. This boy is 5 years old. He did not start speaking until he was 4, but he is extremely clever and taught himself to read and write. However, he does have behavioural problems and being controlled in any way is something he hates!
His parents and school have adopted the tactic of leaving him alone and allowing him to work (which is very easy for him) in his own time.
Looking at his hands we can see a very dominant Head Line on both hands. Both are Sydney Lines – this is where the line cuts the hand in half. Genetically, Sydney Lines are more common on children with emotional and mental learning difficulties and/or minor behavioural problems. This is certainly the case with this young boy. From a psychological point of view, the length of his Head Line shows an incredibly complex, obsessive and deep thinker. His mother recognised these traits and explained about his obsessive fixations with certain books or cartoons. Notice the Intensity Lines on both hands level with the thumb and under the little finger. These are tension markings, showing this boy will not rest or relax. He is inclined to be agitated, and winding down and being calm will not really happen without a concerted effort from the parents.
These Intensity and Sydney Lines are where his behaviour problems show up. Having them on both hands are excessive and powerful markings. The ways to help this boy are to work on these areas. His mind needs stimulation. He is likely to become easily bored as his thinking is fanatical and constant. The correct mental stimulation would help with his focus and behaviour – much like a dog that needs to be taken out for a walk! The Intensity Lines show a lack of rest and relaxation internally. He has artistic hand shapes and a strong thumb ball showing he is going to love art or creating in some way. Drawing and making things would be very calming for this boy and would help him unwind mentally and physically.
He should not watch any kind of frenetic television programmes. There is already a wound up, unreleased, bundle of hyper energy here! He needs relaxing, stimulating and creative activities that will challenge him mentally and express his artistic side.
Case Study: The Missing Father Figure
Looking at our next child’s handprint we can see the fingers are all nicely displayed, held straight together. But the little finger is very low set. The low set little finger is seen by the crease being very low down compared to the ring finger. This is more common in women and it relates to the relationship with the father. This four-year-old has been raised by a single mum. We can see this has affected her physiologically in the finger growth. Women with low set little fingers are more likely to marry early and look for a father figure in early relationships.
Case Study: The Need for Stability
For the last hand I would like to look at the Life Line. This is a 4-year-old boy who lives between the Ukraine and India. Stability and a home is everything to a child. Children can sometimes be on a wonderful holiday, but after a few days will miss being home. Routine is how a child feels secure, and although this child has a very cultured life with lots of travelling and meeting people, the weak Life Line shows he is missing structure. If travelling between countries is unavoidable, having a really good routine within that is vital. There is not a strong enough rhythm to his life and it is disrupting his stability and security. This would certainly affect him in later life (see my article on the Short Life Line). Implementing structure for the child at this age is essential! Notice he also has a low set little finger – he is also raised by a single mum, although it does not affect boys in quite the same way: he just needs to be able to express himself and his emotions clearly, which judging by his curved Heart Line he will be able to do without a problem!
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