Struggling with the Pencil Grip? Tips to Help Your Child at Home
After 'parent-teacher conferences' last month, we had MANY parents come into the shop because their child's teacher reported they were struggling with pencil grip (aka dynamic tripod grasp).
This is common feedback for kindergarten-aged children - they're struggling to properly hold a pencil and their writing skills are falling behind.
The good news is that there are a lot of FUN ways to develop the pencil grip:
1. Play Dough - play dough is an excellent tool to develop and strengthen the hands. As your child explores, they’ll naturally pinch, roll, shape, etc. the play dough with their hands.
2. Scissor Work - Once your child is ready to start using scissors, offer a pair of Safety Scissors and cutting strips. We use the same fingers to operate scissors as we do to hold a pencil.
3. Toys with a Stylus - Look for toys and activities that include a stylus, like:
4. Transfer Activities - transfer activities involve using the hands to transfer objects from one container to another. Transfer activities can be done with the hands and with tools, like tongs.
Tong transfer activities were a favourite in the classroom. If your child doesn't enjoy transfer activities, you can incorporate them into your daily routine by providing your child with real life opportunities to transfer objects, like food. Serve meals "family style" with larger bowls of food and tongs for the child to serve themselves.
This is how snacks and meals are served in Montessori classrooms because of all the developmental benefits of children learning to serve themselves.
5. Art - Set up a small area in your home where your child can explore different art mediums. They are likely to find some type of art they enjoy. You can also pique their interest further by offering art activities related to something they already enjoy.
For example, if they like a specific cartoon or book series, print out colouring sheets from that cartoon.
- Crayola Easy Grip Coloured Pencils - designed to encourage "proper" pencil grip.
- Stickers - peeling stickers requires using the pincer grasp and strengthens the hands.
- Gluing - provide your child with small paper cut outs or pom poms/sequins, etc. to glue onto paper. It’ll get a little sticky using such small objects so have a damp cloth nearby for hands.
How To Prepare Your Infant and Toddler For Writing - Develop the Pincer Grasp
At approximately 9 months of age, you will observe your child starting to use their pincer grasp (thumb and index finger) to pick up objects.
The pincer grasp continues to develop and strengthen throughout infancy and toddlerhood.
Just note that it’s not a skill that’s mastered at a specific age, it’s mastered through opportunities to use it.
The reason why you hear educators talk about the pincer grasp so often is because it’s an important first step in developing the pencil grip.
Here are five ways you can develop the pincer grasp at home:
- It starts with providing the child with ample opportunities to explore objects and toys with their hands. This will start in infancy and continue throughout the early years.
- Exploring with their hands will help to strengthen the muscles in the hands, fingers and wrists. As your child grows, the objects will get smaller and smaller - the smaller the object, the more likely your child will be to pick it up with their pincer grasp.
- Exploration baskets are fantastic at every age. Gather toys or objects of different sizes, textures, functions, etc. and put them in a basket for your child to explore - balls, scarves, cars, wooden figurines, etc.
- Finger feeding is another simple way to encourage the use of the pincer grasp, i.e. puffs, cut up fruits, etc.
- Offer toys that help to develop and refine the pincer grasp, like this Wooden School Bus, Peg Puzzles, and Magnetic Mazes.
