Pencil Grasp Tricks

Although there are a variety of useful pencils grips out there sometimes we can encourage kids to grasp it correctly without fancy adaptations.  Sometimes though that extra support of a specialized grip or weighted pencil is needed.  Try these suggestions first to see which road you need to take!

1. The Lizard Trick - Have your child make an L with his/her dominant hand using thumb and pointer finger then tell them to pinch the pencil.  I call it the lizard trick because I tell my kids L is for lizard and place a little lizard finger puppet over the eraser of the pencil so they can 'take him for a ride'.
2. The Pinch and Flip Trick - Try placing the pencil down on the table with the point facing towards your child.  Tell him/her pinch the pencil then use the other hand to flip it up into writing position.  This allows the child to start with his other fingers tucked into the palm.

In addition to either of these techniques, you can try having the child hold a small object like a marble in their palm while writing to help keep their fingers tucked.  As long as the object itself isn't too motivating and distracts from the writing activity!  If additional supports are needed, talk to us or your own pediatric OT for recommendations!