Hilltopmom Posted November 19, 2017 Share Posted November 19, 2017 My 4 yr old ( going to ps in the fall) has the oddest non functional grip. I’ll have an OT friend come over one day to help out but in the meantime any good resources for teaching pencil grip? I know she’s young and may just need time Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ellie Posted November 19, 2017 Share Posted November 19, 2017 She probably holds her fork/spoon awkwardly, as well, doesn't she? It is something I helped my children with from the time they began holding their little baby spoons and crayons. It might be good to invite your OT friend over sooner than later. :-) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HomeAgain Posted November 19, 2017 Share Posted November 19, 2017 I used a few things: Short crayons and chalk. The grip is corrected on its own. And I do mean short, like 1-2 inches. Tweezer and eyedropper work to develop the pincher grasp. When finally ready for a larger instrument, I used a comfortable rubber band slid onto the wrist and a cotton ball. The rubber band was twisted once (in a figure 8) to hold the pencil above the hand so the fingers didn't grasp too hard, and the child held a cotton ball with the non-writing fingers to help relax. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maize Posted November 19, 2017 Share Posted November 19, 2017 (edited) Some children do better with a quadrupod rather than tripod grip. I read an interesting study awhile back about the relative advantages of several different grips; I'll see if I can find it for you. Maybe a less common grip would work better for your child. Edited November 19, 2017 by maize Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maize Posted November 19, 2017 Share Posted November 19, 2017 A few articles https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3722657/ https://theanonymousot.com/2013/03/22/when-to-fix-a-pencil-grasp/ http://www.ot-mom-learning-activities.com/pencil-grasp.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maize Posted November 19, 2017 Share Posted November 19, 2017 One more: https://tspace.library.utoronto.ca/bitstream/1807/33896/3/Schwellnus_Heidi_D_201206_PhD_thesis.pdf Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hilltopmom Posted November 19, 2017 Author Share Posted November 19, 2017 Thank you! I did a bunch of googling today too and we had some luck with a tiny pencil today although she wasn’t very happy about it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prairiewindmomma Posted November 19, 2017 Share Posted November 19, 2017 I like HWT's method of pinching and flipping. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kiara.I Posted November 20, 2017 Share Posted November 20, 2017 Buy some crayon rocks and just leave them out for colouring. They force a tripod grip without you saying a word, so that can help. Sent from my ONEPLUS A5000 using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sweet2ndchance Posted November 20, 2017 Share Posted November 20, 2017 Definitely easier to gently correct when they are toddlers than to undo bad habits when they are preschoolers. Handwriting Without Tears is definitely an option to look into even if you only do the Wet Dry Try with the chalk board and the little pieces of chalk. You can also get tripod pencil grips such as these or these or these. You might get a variety of them to see which ones work best for your child. Make sure every pencil has one and every crayon is broken down short or they will find the one that isn't broken or doesn't have a grip and ONLY want to use that one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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