A common concern often expressed by teachers is a child's immature pencil grip. There are various reasons why a child may be holding his/her crayon or pencil awkwardly. For instance, weak shoulder muscles, weak hand muscles, delayed fine motor coordination, poor sensory awareness and lack of exposure are common contributors. Although not all children will develop the optimal grip, it is a good idea to encourage it to avoid the possibility of problems in the future.
You may not necessarily know what the specific underlying cause of a child's atypical grip is, but you can certainly pick and choose from the following strategies because they will all be helpful for developing a better grasp. Some strategies are particularly helpful and can be easily incorporated into different activities. For instance, writing or any activity (pegboard, flannel boards, magnets, stencils, etc.) on a vertical surface can be an effective means for improving grasp.
The following activities are suggestions that can be incorporated during various parts of the day.
- Activities on a vertical surface
- Wheelbarrow walking
- Activities on stomach, lying on floor
- Floor, wall or chair pushups
- Pushing / pulling heavy objects
- Using an easel
- Crab walking
- Using tiny, broken pieces of crayons or chalk
- Eye droppers
- Finger puppets
- Coins/ buttons into a bank with one hand
- Tweezers
- Crumbling tissue paper
- Simple sign language
- Snapping fingers
- Using squirt toys
- Pick up stix
- Jacks
- Lacing card activities
- Stringing beads, straw bits, pasta
- Tearing paper
- Keys and locks
- Playdoh activities
- Hole punchers
- Peeling small stickers
- Small peg boards
- Geo boards
- Playing cards
- Knob puzzles
- Popping bubble wrap
- Use a 3-ring binder as a slant board on which to position during activities
Awareness of sensations in the hand
- Vibrating pen
- Coloring on paper over bumpy/ textured board
- Using finger to draw /write on carpet square
- Write/draw in clay using chopstick, capped pen
- Writing on a vertical surface
- Paper over sandpaper to write
- Fingerpainting