Mirror writing in nursery and school-aged children was investigated using a novel approach. The motor hypothesis of mirror writing was assessed with dominant and non-dominant hand writing using a digitising tabled. A measure of perceptual discrimination was used to investigate the relationship between mirror writing and perceptual hypothesis. Findings demonstrated a significant positive correlation between mirror writing and perceptual confusion, indicating that perception is the predominant driving factor in the majority of young children. Mirror writing was shown to decrease with age and as children grow older, motor factors gradually take over as a foundation for mirror writing. As children mature, these motor mechanisms become governed by cognitive control strategies, eliminating them in most adults, unless brain damage occurs that affects this control mechanism. This developmental perspective of mirror writing considers it to be an inherent phenomenon and a normal part of writing development in children.