# When can kids close one eye? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 31, 2009, 5:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-can-kids-close-one-eye/508331 "2009-08-31T05:55:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Runs\_With\_Scissors](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/278dde/32.png) [@Runs\_With\_Scissors](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Runs_With_Scissors)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2009, 5:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-can-kids-close-one-eye/508331/1 "2009-08-31T05:55:38Z")
I was trying to teach my friend’s three year old son how to do [“I’m crushing your head!”](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kbETsbv1NZ4) but he couldn’t close just one eye so he didn’t get it. Tell ya what, though…watching him contort his face trying to close one eye was better than if I’d taught him that annoying shtick. Presumably, he’ll be able to eventually…when can most people do this? If anyone has kids aged two to six, take an informal survey 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Ruken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f475e1/32.png) [@Ruken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruken)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2009, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-can-kids-close-one-eye/508331/2 "2009-08-31T13:42:34Z")
I remember in preschool some kids couldn’t do it. I thought they were dumb. This would be 4-5 year-olds. Maybe some kids in kindergarten, but I don’t remember so well. ---
**Author:** ![Baracus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/2bfe46/32.png) [@Baracus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baracus)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2009, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-can-kids-close-one-eye/508331/3 "2009-08-31T13:57:56Z")
My daughter is 3 years and 3 months old and just started to be able to do this about a month ago. She started off by closing both eyes and then just opening one. I think she can go straight to closing one eye now, but I am not sure. ---
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2009, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-can-kids-close-one-eye/508331/4 "2009-08-31T15:56:39Z")
Until this very moment, I had never once thought of the ability to close one eye as a developmental milestone (such as potty training). Nor had I ever thought about my own development and when I could close one eye. However, I note that at age 39 I totally can only sneer on one side of my mouth. ---
**Author:** ![Susie\_Derkins](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e47774/32.png) [@Susie\_Derkins](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Susie_Derkins)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2009, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-can-kids-close-one-eye/508331/5 "2009-08-31T16:08:21Z")
My daughter didn’t learn until she was about 6 or so. [Here she is at five](http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y152/susie_derkins21/HPIM0645.jpg), giving it her best attempt. ---
**Author:** ![3\_20\_59\_or\_bust](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/3/47e85d/32.png) [@3\_20\_59\_or\_bust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/3_20_59_or_bust)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2009, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-can-kids-close-one-eye/508331/6 "2009-08-31T18:03:55Z")
If they run with scissors, perhaps sooner than you’d like… But seriously folks, some people (ahem!) never learn to close one eye, i.e. wink, even as adults. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2009, 5:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-can-kids-close-one-eye/508331/7 "2009-09-01T05:56:40Z")
I was preschool age when I learned to close my right eye independently of the left. I get the sense that you’re supposed to be able to close each eye individually, though. I can’t close my left eye on its own. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2009, 6:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-can-kids-close-one-eye/508331/8 "2009-09-01T06:09:27Z")
Let me know. I’m still waiting. Age 24. ---
**Author:** ![khere](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/6f9a4e/32.png) [@khere](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/khere)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2009, 6:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-can-kids-close-one-eye/508331/9 "2009-09-01T06:22:50Z")
I can only wink with my right eye. The closest I come to being able to wink with my left is if I close both eyes first, as I can open my right eye while leaving my left eye shut. I do remember this is how I originally learnt to wink with my right eye (maybe age 7-8?) but I guess once I conquered that little milestone I had no reason to practise with the other eye… ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2009, 6:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-can-kids-close-one-eye/508331/10 "2009-09-01T06:54:48Z")
> [@khere](#): > > I can only wink with my right eye. Is that your non-dominant eye too? [This wiki article](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wink) about winking says that it’s common for those of us who can only wink with one eye to do so with the non-dominant one. I’m left everything dominant, so I guess I shouldn’t be surprised that it’s the right eye that can close by its ownsome. ---
**Author:** ![the\_first\_supraliminal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f475e1/32.png) [@the\_first\_supraliminal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_first_supraliminal)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2009, 12:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-can-kids-close-one-eye/508331/11 "2009-09-01T12:20:31Z")
Can you wiggle one ear? I can. ---
**Author:** ![emmaliminal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7bcc69/32.png) [@emmaliminal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/emmaliminal)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2009, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-can-kids-close-one-eye/508331/12 "2009-09-01T12:33:21Z")
> [@HeyHomie](#): > > … I note that at age 39 I totally can only sneer on one side of my mouth. I taught myself to sneer on the left side in my 30s, and to raise my left eyebrow solo (I could always do the right one) in my 20s. It helps to be bored and have time to kill and/or recently have watched someone do these things to great effect. So take heart, all you adult asymmetrical-facial-gesture impaired! It’s not too late! ---
**Author:** ![C3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/c3/32/3108_2.png) [@C3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C3)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2009, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-can-kids-close-one-eye/508331/13 "2009-09-01T13:19:30Z")
My son is 3 years 5 months and he’s been able to wink for months. He can do either eye. [Here’s a picture!](http://www.flickr.com/photos/8173731@N06/3877365561/) (incidentally, that picture was taken 1 week after his third birthday.) ---
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2009, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-can-kids-close-one-eye/508331/14 "2009-09-01T14:54:30Z")
> [@C3](#): > > My son is 3 years 5 months and he’s been able to wink for months. He can do either eye. [Here’s a picture!](http://www.flickr.com/photos/8173731@N06/3877365561/) > > (incidentally, that picture was taken 1 week after his third birthday.) Teh cute! It burns!!! ---
**Author:** ![C3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/c3/32/3108_2.png) [@C3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C3)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2009, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-can-kids-close-one-eye/508331/15 "2009-09-01T15:24:03Z")
> [@HeyHomie](#): > > Teh cute! It burns!!! 😃 It’s especially cute when he’s doing something he shouldn’t be, winks at me and says, “I love you, Mommy!” He’s a bit of a handful. ---
**Author:** ![ChordedZither](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e9c0ed/32.png) [@ChordedZither](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ChordedZither)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2009, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-can-kids-close-one-eye/508331/16 "2009-09-01T19:19:15Z")
There is an old game that goes by various names, but I learned it as “[Murder](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wink_murder)”. A group of people sit in a circle, usually with lights dimmed. One person has been secretly designated as the murderer. You all sit around watching one another. The murderer dispatches a victim by winking at them, hopefully at a moment when no one else is looking directly at them. The victim must count silently to 3, get up and leave the circle. People can accuse someone they think is the murderer. If no one supports the accusation, the accuser leaves the game. If two people accuse the same person but are wrong, the accusers must leave. The game continues until only murderer is left or until two people correctly accuse the murder. Now. after several minutes, most people are blinking a lot, involuntarily, so the difference between a wink and a blink is crucial. We had played two or three games of this, once, when the next game seemed to drag on forever with no victims dispatched. Finally, a 15-year old complained to someone else, “I’ve winked at you 4 times. Why won’t you leave?” The “victim” said she had seen no such thing. It turned out that our chosen murderer for that round simply could not wink with just one eye. No matter hiow many times he tried, he always blinked both eyes. but he had been completely unaware that he could not actually wink. ---
**Author:** ![StinkyBurrito](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b9e5f3/32.png) [@StinkyBurrito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StinkyBurrito)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2009, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-can-kids-close-one-eye/508331/17 "2009-09-01T19:46:02Z")
> [@C3](#): > > My son is 3 years 5 months and he’s been able to wink for months. He can do either eye. [Here’s a picture!](http://www.flickr.com/photos/8173731@N06/3877365561/) > > (incidentally, that picture was taken 1 week after his third birthday.) Those pants are sweet. Do they make them is size 38? ---
**Author:** ![C3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/c3/32/3108_2.png) [@C3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C3)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2009, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-can-kids-close-one-eye/508331/18 "2009-09-01T20:00:54Z")
> [@StinkyBurrito](#): > > Those pants are sweet. Do they make them is size 38? I made them! For a generous fee, I could make you some, too! ---
**Author:** ![Chicken\_Fingers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Chicken\_Fingers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chicken_Fingers)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2009, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-can-kids-close-one-eye/508331/19 "2009-09-01T21:16:35Z")
My 5 and 3/4 year old can finally wink. I ask her regularly, because her facial contortions make me laugh so hard. ---
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2009, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-can-kids-close-one-eye/508331/20 "2009-09-02T19:45:44Z")
Mrs. Homie here. Hi. On Aaron’s (Mr. Homie’s) urging, I tried this experiment on my class of four-year-olds (Im a preschool teacher). Six out of fifteen could do it. Aaron (HH) will be publishing my findings in the _Journal of Pediatrics_ in the next few months. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-can-kids-close-one-eye/508331.md?page=2)