Developing a good pencil grip is important for your child.
A good pencil grip is one that is relaxed enough to allow a fair amount of finger movement and does not hurt or tire the hand when writing.
The most common grasp is called a tripod grasp as illustrated below.
In a Tripod grasp the index finger and the thumb pinch the pencil and the pencil rests on the third finger.
To be able to develop a good pencil grasp a child needs to be able to move each finger in isolation, develop good shoulder and wrist stability and strong hand muscles.
Here are a list of activities that assist in developing a good pencil grasp.
1. Shoulder and wrist stability
- Weight bearing into the arms. You can achieve this by:
-drawing
-crab walking
-yoga poses
– donkey kicks
- Drawing, colouring or painting on a vertical surface such as a blackboard, easel or wall.
- Using a clipboard on the floor to draw on.
- Playing with lego on a lego mat.
- Using magnets on the fridge or a magnetic surface.
2. Strengthening the hand
- Pegboards.
- Lacing activities.
- Threading beads.
- Squeezing water out of sponges.
- Playing with Playdough.
- Kneading bread or cookie dough.
- Cutting paper
- Making slime.
- Activities that involve tweezers or tongs.
3. Developing the hands arches
- Walking on all fours, pretend play as animals.
- Rolling dice in the palm of your hand.
- Rolling balls from clay or playdough.
- Finger play rhymes.
- Making shadow puppets.
Always remember to stop an activity if your toddler has lost interest. Rather come back to that activity when they are excited about completing the task.