The Development of Appropriate Pencil Grip & Drawing Skills - 1 to 6 Years Old - PLD develops teacher resources to improve literacy levels in classrooms across Australia
Use this handy, one-page pencil grasp development handout to share about pencil grasp development with parents, educators, or therapists.
A review of pencil grasp development in children is critical as an Occupational Therapist to understand where the child is in pencil grip development and how to best help them to be successful in writing and eventually holding the pencil in the best way they can. Image retrieved from here Fisted grasp: Reaching/holding items with entire fist. Pinky will be closest to the paper. Pronated grasp: All fingers holding the writing tool, movement comes mostly from elbow at this stage. 4 Finger grasp: Arc begins to form between thumb and index finger. Static Tripod Grasp: Children should be able to copy a diagonal line, a square, a diagonal cross, a circle, a triangle. *Quadrapod grip can happen at this stage with the fourth finger involved. Dynamic Tripod Grasp: Consistent 3 fingers on the writing utensil. "When OTs consider writing as an important early literacy and communication skill in addition to it being a complex fine motor task, their approaches to supporting writing are greatly expanded" (Gerde, 2014). According to Bear, children go through stages of on their way to conventional writing such as scribbling, drawing, scribble writing, letter-like formations (shapes that resemble letters such as /, +, and a triangle). and letters. Ideas/activities to develop and strengthen thumb/finger muscles from Royal Children's Hospital: Note: Have child use thumb and index finger (as well as middle finger if required). Finger games: thumb war, itsy bitsy spider Buttoning clothes Tweezers to pick up small beads or toys--place them into a bowl/container Remove coins one at a time from a bowl Playdough (roll, squeeze, push, poke) Tear up collared paper for a collage Threading beads Manipulating legs Squeezing clothes pins on/off a rim of a basket/bowl Sticker play Spray bottle play with water Citations Bear, D. R., Invernizzi, M., Templeton, S., & Johnston, F. (2008). Words their way: Word study for phonics, vocabulary, and spelling instruction (4th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson/Prentice Hall. Gerde, H. K., Foster, T. D., & Skibbe, L. E. (2014). Beyond the pencil: expanding the occupational therapists' role in helping young children to develop writing skills. Open Journal of Occuaptional Therapy, 2(1).
Explore the essential stages of pencil grip development in kids and discover how to support them at each step! Learn the importance of a proper grip for neat and efficient writing.
These 5 types of activities help promote the development of a functional pencil grasp. You'll be surprised that a pencil is not even needed!
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The Development of Appropriate Pencil Grip & Drawing Skills - 1 to 6 Years Old - PLD develops teacher resources to improve literacy levels in classrooms across Australia
Developing a child’s pencil grasp correctly is helping them write efficiently, effortlessly and for a greater endurance. Enter the tripod pencil grasp.
The development of grasp patterns in children from when they first learn to hold a crayon until they are school aged.
I kind of love to share tricks for improving handwriting. There are so many “parts” to written work. There’s fine motor dexterity, pencil grasp, strength, endurance, visual perceptual skills, cognitive skills among other parts to handwriting. You can see more about these topics on our Handwriting page. One big way to develop the skills needed ... Read more
Use this handy, one-page pencil grasp development handout to share about pencil grasp development with parents, educators, or therapists.
Worried about your kiddo's pencil grasp? Learn the stages of pencil grasp development, when they start developing, and why your kiddo's might look different
Read More: The four main factors that interfere with pencil grasp development and what parents and teachers can do to address those factors. Read More: Original illustrations by Kate Hadfield Designs
Seven simple and actionable steps for children to develop a functional grasp pattern that don't involve a pencil grip!
