It is extremely important to monitor your child’s use of the pencil grip. You’ve chosen to use the pencil grip, now what? Lastly, for children who have started to hold the pencil with their fingers rather than their whole hand, but who are still struggling to get the correct fingers onto their pencil, a pencil grip can be tried. If the child is holding the pencil with their fingers but their grasp is not mature, you can also try the quadruped and alternate tripod grasp. This can be done by working on their fine motor skills.īelow is a list of appropriate pencil grips at different ages. These children need more support to develop their hand and finger control. Older children using this grasp have not developed the fine motor skills needed to hold onto their pencil with their fingers. Children initially hold onto their pencil with their whole hand, this is called a gross or palmer pencil grasp. This is also true for children under six who may have developmental delays. They should not be the first strategy that is tried for a child who is having difficulty holding onto their pencil.įor children younger than five, it is important to look at writing utensils that will help to support their finger and hand development first, before giving them a pencil grip. They should also only be used with children who have already received some support to develop their pencil grasp already. What age is the most appropriate to start using them? There is no hard and steadfast rule here, but I generally recommend no earlier than 5 years old. I always suggest small broken crayons or pencils first as this once again improves hand strength and dexterity. These will be easier for small hands to manipulate and write with. This helps to develop a tripod grasp, which is a mature grasp that will be used as they refine their movements.īesides broken crayons, large, fat crayons and markers can also be utilized. by using small writing utensils, a pincer grasp is being promoted.those small muscles will get some much-needed exercise.Instead, try using small, broken crayons or small golf pencils. It’s ideal to focus on strengthening those small intrinsic muscles and using a pencil grip is not the best way to accomplish this. The small, intrinsic muscles of the hand develop slower the larger muscle groups, such as in the arm and shoulder. As a child ages, they begin with prewriting and use of classroom tools. Well, let’s start with the approximate age to use pencil grips and when to avoid them. But when is the appropriate time to start and what are some other strategies to try instead of immediately reaching for the pencil grips. The short answer is maybe! Depending on your child’s age, pencil grips can be a simple and useful strategy to help correct a poor grasp and aid in better dexterity and control to write letters, numbers and shapes. Should my child or student use a pencil grip to help with handwriting. I often get this question from both teachers and parents. So your child is having trouble holding and writing with a pencil…is it time to use a pencil grip?
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