 Affiliate links are used throughout this website to promote products I love and recommend. I receive a commission if any purchases are made through these links. Please see my disclosure policy for more details. Kindergartners get little time to play. Why does it matter? This was the title of a recent article that I shared on the YKOT Facebook Page. Read the article here. The concern is the downward pressure with preschools and day care centres feeling like they need to do “school readiness” or even “kindergarten type work” which is very academic and developmentally inappropriate. Parents often are led by child care educators and are impressed by the "school readiness" offered. I have seen it many times over in the places where I visit. 3 and 4 years olds become frustrated that they have to form letters. The educators become frustrated that they children aren't doing what they are told. I become frustrated! Before I get myself into hot water; I will say that this not the case for all child care centres and all preschools... But the downward pressure is real. Occupational therapists believe that there are fundamental skills a child needs BEFORE they start writing. These pre-writing skills include the development of the whole child from postural control, gross motor skills, sensory modulation, strength, body awareness, fine motor and cognitive skills. The preschool years are important for learning through play and developing connections. Connections with their parents, siblings, friends and others in their life. The development of these skills will assist a child with their school readiness and yes this includes dynamic control of a pencil and the visual spatial skills needed to form letters and numbers. As an occupational therapist I encourage the development of pre-writing lines and shapes through drawing.  Drawing is a wonderful early childhood experience that is a simple as providing a blank sheet of paper and drawing tool. So many children I see are not provided with the opportunities to experiment and make mistakes. They go from scribbling to writing letters without the important in-between steps of working things out, drawing around shapes (like plates and fingers) and decorating cardboard boxes. Pre-writing generally occurs in a developmental sequence. It begins with scribble and then imitating lines (horizontal, vertical, circle). Further pre-writing lines include diagonal lines, a triangle, a square and cross shapes. Have a look at my fluency patterns for more ideas ---> FLEUNCY PATTERNS. Modelling is a wonderful way to show children how to experiment with lines and shapes. Children learn through participation how lines can be orientated in different ways to achieve different outcomes. They learn that with some control they can depict things from their every day experiences. You don't need to be an artist. Simple lines and shapes is the perfect place to start. Take your child's lead as to their interest. Do they like trains - draw a few rectangles for carriages and circles for wheels; encourage them to draw lines and shapes to decorate them or draw straight lines for train tracks. Do they like rainbows and unicorns - experiment with different colours to fill a page with a large rainbow. Not sure where to start? I have created a printable resource that includes "draw with me" pages of some simple images and 30 pages to "finish the drawing". The full "DRAWING PRE"-WRITING LINES AND SHAPES" printable set encourages your child to experiment with lines and shapes to complete differently themed pages. The themes include drawing snake patterns, a gallery wall, hats, ice cream and more. There are 25 themed pages with an additional 5 seasonal themed pages. You may show your child how to draw certain lines and patterns. Encourage them to experiment with size (draw something wider, draw it longer, draw it smaller), experiment with colour and experiment with different drawing implements. Whilst your child may enjoy colouring these pages, this was not the intention. Colouring encourages pencil control, however drawing lines and shapes will encourage visual spatial awareness which is beneficial for future writing. "Drawing Pre-writing Lines and Shapes" provides opportunities to trace, draw and experiment. Do encourage your child to go beyond tracing and colouring… and to experiment with drawing! It may be purchased from the YKOT shop or via Teachers Pay Teachers.  Do you enjoy drawing with your child? What is your favourite thing to draw together?   Cindy is a registered occupational therapist practising in Sydney, Australia. She has two growing children who are a constant source of inspiration and learning. Cindy loves working creatively to help children to reach their potential, finding opportunities in everyday living and making learning fun. She is also addicted to making printables (even when they take a long time to complete). Cindy is the author of the Occupational Therapy blog Your Kids OT. Read more articles from Your Kids OT at https://www.yourkidsot.com/blog Cindy is a member of the Functional Skills for Kids Therapy Team. They have together published THE HANDWRITING BOOK, THE SCISSORS SKILLS BOOK and THE TOILETING BOOK. The information on this site is general in nature. The activities are safe for most children, however, you should consult an Occupational Therapist or health professional to address specific movement, sensory or other medical conditions. You may also like:
 Affiliate links are used throughout this website to promote products I love and recommend. I receive a commission if any purchases are made through these links. Please see my disclosure policy for more details. Do you have a child who pushes down too hard onto the page when writing? Do they push so hard that the page tears or you can see their work through several pages? or Do you have a child who writes too lightly on the page... so lightly you can't see what they have written? Have you tried brush markers? Brush markers are a popular tool for those who do faux calligraphy and hand lettering. If you search Pinterest, Instagram or You tube... you will find many experts showing you how to use brush markers and the beautiful art work they can create. I'm a novice when it comes to faux calligraphy and hand lettering, but I do enjoy trying! I've been practicing with "brush markers" for a couple of years now and what do they say ... "practice makes progress"! Brush markers are marker pens or textas that have a soft tip. Depending on the amount of pressure you apply to the marker will determine the thickness of the stroke. You can see this in the writing below. Heavy pressure on the marker will produce a thicker stroke on the page and light pressure on the marker will produce a think stroke.  Brush markers are a wonderful way to work on pencil pressure! In comparison to other textas and crayons, brush markers provide sensory feedback (proprioception) as the marker responds to the amount of pressure you apply. Children can see for themselves what happens when they press down "too hard" or "too lightly" with the feedback to their muscles and joints that often can't be described to them. Brush markers are fantastic for writing letters as seen above. I often have children write their names and if they have learnt cursive writing, they can be taught some basic faux calligraphy. The essence of faux calligraphy is to push down with more pressure on the "down strokes" of a letter and to reduce the pressure so there is a thin line on the "upward strokes" of a letter. Brush markers are also a fantastic tool for colouring in pictures. I have paired brush markers with my printable "5 Mandalas to Practice Pencil Pressure" which you can purchase from the Your Kids OT shop. "Mandala" originates from sanskrit and means "circle", however they have now become a tool for mindfulness and self expression.  Brush markers are available in many different brands. The brush markers I use are called Artline Stix (not sponsored). I like them as there are a range of colours, they are economical and they have a triangular shape to grip onto (encouraging a tripod grasp). Kids also love them as they can be linked together. Watch how I use brush markers to write the heavy and light strokes in this video. If you have trouble viewing this video, please try this you-tube link https://youtu.be/q8A2NkpQ3zU For more information about "too much pencil pressure" go to "Why Your Child Presses Too Hard When Writing" from Miss Jaime OT! For more information about "too light pencil pressure" go to "Why Your Child Presses Too Lightly". Do you know a child who struggles with pencil pressure on the page? Have you tried brush markers? 
The information on this site is general in nature. The activities are safe for most children, however, you should consult an Occupational Therapist or health professional to address specific movement, sensory or other medical conditions. You may also like:
 Affiliate links are used throughout this website to promote products I love and recommend. I receive a commission if any purchases are made through these links. Please see my disclosure policy for more details. Not everyone uses a functional efficient pencil grasp. If you walk into a room full of adults and look at how they hold their pens, you will find a range of "functional grasps". In my last article I explained what makes a grasp "functional" and "efficient"; read more about this here. Functional Inefficient Pencil Grasps Some people are happy to use an inefficient pencil grasp because what they have is comfortable for them and produces legible writing. We all adjust our pencil grasps according to comfort and pain. Inefficient pencil grasps develop for a number of reasons. Sometimes these inefficient grasps develop because of weak hand muscles, low muscle tone or hyper-mobile joints. Sometimes the writing may be a little messy, however this compromise is accepted because it enables the writer the least amount of pain or the most stability. Some writers who use an inefficient grasp also make other accommodations. They may write for a short duration with regular breaks or use a modified writing implement. Typical Modifications of Pencil Grasp Here are some ways that children and adults hold the pencil to adjust for weak hand muscles, low muscle tone or hyper-mobile joints.
Movement of the pencil using these grasps may be either static (control coming from wrist, elbow or shoulder) or dynamic (from the fingers).  Joint Hyper-mobility Children with finger joint hyper-mobility (often called "double-jointed") have difficulty stabilizing their joints to control pencils and other implements. These children are prone to fatigue so consideration should be provided with how much they are expected to write and for how long. Joint protection should also be considered (this may depend on the severity of joint hyper-mobility). Joint protection may be achieved through strapping or splinting to provide extra support to their fingers during tasks that require manual dexterity. A quick trick is to use a hair elastic twisted into a "figure 8" over the joint to provide some extra support (see photo below). Some children with joint hyper-mobility also benefit from using a modified pencil grasp such as those mentioned previously. Benbow (2006) describes the grasp held between the second and third fingers as the adapted tripod grasp. The "Twist n write" pencil (pictured below) provides an alternative way to hold a pencil. If you suspect that you child has hyper-mobile joints, seek professional medical advice.  Inefficient and not functional Pencil Grasps. An inefficient pencil grasp moves from functional to not functional when there is an issue with: -
When to change a pencil grasp if it is inefficient? Pencil grasps should be looked at as part of an overall age-appropriate handwriting assessment and remediation. Consider working on a more dynamic pencil grasp with children who may be demonstrating one of the following :-
For some great ideas to work on pencil grasp - check out my "Handwriting and Writing" Landing page. There will be more practical ideas to come here on the blog! Where a grasp can not be changed due to a child's age or the issues described previously with low muscle tone and joint hyper-mobility; then consideration should be made with regard to the use of technology such as laptops, ipads and speech to text recognition. Additional exam support may also be considered for older children such as extra time or the use of a scribe. Do you or someone you know use an "inefficient" grasp? Is it functional? 
References: * Benbow, M. (2006). Principles and Practices of Teaching Handwriting. In Hand Function in the Child Foundations for Remediation (pp. 319-342). Mosby Elsevier. You may also like:
 Affiliate links are used throughout this website to promote products I love and recommend. I receive a commission if any purchases are made through these links. Please see my disclosure policy for more details. Ever been called "The pencil grip lady?"? Ever had parents say to you "I've got a shocking pencil grip but I've been alright with writing"? Ever been asked by friends at a kid's birthday party about how their child holds the pencil? Ever had friends say, "Can you check my pencil grip"? Ever have your own kids correct YOUR pencil grip? What's the big deal? Is it really important how our kids hold the pencil? Pencil grasps have been an ongoing discussion with teachers, parents and therapists. This article will be of particular interest to teachers and therapists. Some say pencil grasp doesn't matter. Some insist on change. Our children develop so differently. Benbow (2006)* tells us that boys have a tendency to develop their fine motor skills more slowly than girls and may have great difficulty managing writing tools; whilst girls may begin "writing" when they are as young as 2 1/2 years and may adopt pencil grasps that are inefficient or harmful as they pursue an early fascination with letter formation. Benbow also tells adults that we should not assume that children will know the best way to hold a pencil or that they will acquire the ability through incidental experience. Some studies have indicated that how a child grasps a pencil does NOT have significant influence on handwriting performance, however children WITH poor handwriting use significantly less mature pencil grasp patterns than children with good handwriting. ** There is also much discussion in the literature about dynamic (mature) grasps being suggested as the best grasp for writing when compared with static (immature) grasps. *** SO WHAT DOES THIS ALL MEAN? PENCIL GRASP AND HANDWRITING Pencil grasp is just ONE aspect of handwriting that occupational therapists consider. There is a developmental progression that is expected that children work through in their early years. Grasp patterns develop through play and experiences that children have interacting with their environment and objects they find in their environment. Read more about the developmental progression of pencil grasp here. Evaluation of Pencil Grasp. When looking at a child's pencil grasp, there are a number things that occupational therapists consider.
 Defining Pencil Grasp. What makes it good? Functional? Efficient? Static? Dynamic? For efficient pencil control, OTs have for a long time looked for a dynamic pencil grasp (see photo below). The dynamic pencil grasp involves the thumb opposed to the index and third fingers with all three fingers position in a tripod on the pencil; creating an open web space (the nice circle made by the thumb and index finger) with the fourth and fifth fingers stabilized against the writing surface.*** It is the preferred grasp for writing speed, control and letter formation with movement of the pencil being controlled by the first three fingers (thumb, index and third fingers). **** This grasp is described as efficient, functional and dynamic. HOWEVER, this is not the only grasp which can be described in this way. Let's look at some definitions. FUNCTIONAL: A functional pencil grasp is any grasp that produces output on the paper whether that is scribble for a toddler, legible or messy handwriting for a school age child or adult. Whilst functional, this grasp may (or may) may not lead to fatigue, pain, slow writing speed or poor endurance. EFFICIENT: An efficient grasp is any grasp that produces writing on the page which is legible and was completed within a reasonable time frame. It enables the writer to produce a reasonable quantity of work without pain or fatigue. DYNAMIC: A mature pencil grasp where pencil control comes from movement of the thumb, index and third fingers whilst the fourth and fifth fingers are tucked into the palm and stabilized on the writing surface. STATIC: An immature pencil grasp where pencil control comes from the wrist, elbow or shoulder so that the hand moves as one unit. TRIPOD: A grasp where the pencil is held with three fingers touching the pencil (thumb, index and third fingers). QUADRUPOD: A grasp where the pencil is held with four fingers touching the pencil (thumb, index, third and fourth fingers). LATERAL: A grasp where the thumb lies adducted to the side of the index finger or crosses over the pencil and the movement of the pencil comes from the index and middle fingers predominantly (without the thumb's assistance).  Which grasp should we teach? As occupational therapists we are primarily concerned with helping a child achieve a functional and efficient pencil grasp. This has been seen in recent literature as being achieved through dynamic movement of the fingers which can be seen in 4 differing grasps. These grasps are the dynamic tripod grasp, dynamic quadrupod grasp, lateral tripod and lateral (thumb) quadrupod. *** Schwellenus et al (2012) found that neither speed nor legibility of writing was affected by these grasp patterns. These authors continue to recommend that the dynamic tripod grasp should be taught to children when commencing writing. If a child has difficulties with writing then the grasp pattern should be observed and if it was one of these grasps mentioned then the therapist should look at other areas of handwriting remediation. Just a side note from my personal experience as an occupational therapist. There are also many children who may hold the pencil using the grasps described in this section (and seen in the photo below), however it is also important to observe where pencil control comes from. Does the child hold these fingers rigidly and move their hand at the wrist, elbow or shoulder? In which case these grasps are no longer dynamic but static and child demonstrates some difficult with separation of the two sides of the hand (read more about that here).  THIS month is all about PENCIL GRASPS at Your Kids OT! I have more to share with you about inefficient and adaptive grasps; and a fun easy way to practice applying the "right" pencil pressure. Can't wait?!
I'm looking forward to seeing some wonderful creative ways to address pencil grasp and pencil control! What is your favourite way to encourage a dynamic, functional and efficient pencil grasp?
References: * Benbow, M. (2006). Principles and Practices of Teaching Handwriting. In Hand Function in the Child Foundations for Remediation (pp. 319-342). Mosby Elsevier. ** Pollock, N., Lockhart, J., Blowes, B., Semple, K., Webster, M., & Farhat, L. et al. (2009). Handwriting Assessment Protocol (2nd ed.). McMaster University. *** Schwellnus, H., Carnahan, H., Kushki, A., Polatajko, H., Missiuna, C., & Chau, T. (2012). Effect of pencil grasp on the speed and legibility of handwriting after a 10-minute copy task in Grade 4 children. Australian Occupational Therapy Journal, 59(3), 180-187. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1440-1630.2012.01014.x **** Elliott, J. M & Connolly, K. J. (1984). A classification of manipulative hand movements. Developmental Medicine and Child Neurology, 26 (3), 283-296. You may also like:
 Push pins! You may have some handy for your bulletin board but have you used them to draw? OTs love to use "push pins" as a tool for fine motor skill development, especially for encouraging a pincer grasp! Read on to the find out all the great therapeutic benefits of this activity. But first, what do you need to do?! 1. Get your templates at the Your Kids OT shop! Print them off. 2. Put a piece of paper over a cork mat. 3. Place the chosen template page over both the paper and cork mat. 4. Use a push pin to poke small holes onto the template page. Use the non-dominant hand to support the pages so that it doesn't move. Encourage your child to pinch the push pin so that they are not squeezing too hard. They need to apply just enough pressure to poke a small hole (not too hard otherwise the push pin stays in the cork mat). 5. When all the holes for the picture have been "poked", hold the paper up to see the picture. Kids love to see their created picture and many of my OT kids have place their pictures on their bedroom windows as art!  Therapeutic benefits! There are so many skills that can be achieved with "push pin poke drawing"!
All these skills are needed for complex hand tasks such as writing, drawing and cutting. They are important "pre-writing" skills and can help with the development of an efficient functional pencil grasp as well as helping with the fluent control of the pencil needed for writing. Did you read my recent article about my favourite fine motor toys needed for pencil grasp and handwriting? This activity is suitable for a wide range of ages. I have used this with preschool-age children (about 4 years of age) and primary school-age children. They have all loved it! Supervision of the "push pin" is advisable so it may not work in a whole-class environment. You could try toothpicks or bamboo skewers instead!  This activity is so much FUN! Don't take my word for it, you will have to try it out! Don't forget to get your templates from the Your Kids OT shop! Also available from Teachers Pay Teachers. Have you tried "push pin poke drawing?! 
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 Toys are a BIG thing for occupational therapists! Maybe we are just BIG kids that never quite grow up (Peter Pan style)? We get excited when we see new products released. We get thrilled when we see old products re-used or re-purposed. We are nostalgic about our old toys. We are curious to see how children "play". We love seeing children use their imaginations and interact with each other. We are fascinated when children use "non-toys" as "toys"! AND We love to see toys which help guide child development! This may be fostering curiosity, problem solving, creativity, cause and affect.... or developing skills (fine motor, gross motor, visual motor, sensory motor, etc)! But what fine motor skills are important with pencil grasp and handwriting? As occupational therapists, we are looking for more than a child's ability to play with Legos or pick up sultanas! These are the common examples that get shared with us in relation to fine motor skills. A child's ability to hold a pencil (ie. pencil grasp) and then use the pencil fluently and effectively may be influenced by a number of skills. Before we look at the hand and fine motor skills, we also need to consider the development of bilateral coordination skills (using both sides of the body in a coordinated way), being able to stabilise the body during writing and having the right posture (read about this at Miss Jaime OT).
Important fine motor skills for pencil grasp and handwriting. • Pincer grasp - This is the neat "pinch" achieved between the thumb and index finger. Read more about this HERE. • Thumb opposition - This refers to the ability of the thumb to rotate and reach to touch all other fingertips of the same hand. Read more about this from The Inspired Treehouse HERE. • Palmar arches - This refers to the arch formed when we "cup" our hands and is related to the loops of blood vessels which are found in our hands. Read more about this from Irvine USD Special Education Preschool HERE. • Separation of the two sides of the hand - This the use of the thumb, index and third fingers of the hand whilst maintaining stability in the fourth and fifth fingers of the hand. Read more about this HERE. • Wrist stability and extension - This is the position of the wrist so that it is resting on the table and slightly extended so that the fingers can be used to control the pencil. This is one of the reasons as occupational therapists, we love to encourage working on a vertical surface or use of a slope board if necessary. • Hand strength - This refers to the contraction of the hand muscles to grasp a pencil to control it without fatigue or pain. Read more about hand strength HERE. • In-hand manipulation - This refers to the ability to move items around in the hand using precise finger movements and includes translation, rotation and shift. Read more about this in THE HANDWRITING BOOK.
This is a list of MY favourite toys that help children in the fine motor skills they need for an efficient pencil grasp and fluent handwriting. 1. Wind-up toys. 2. Bubble Wrap 3. Travel-size toys (eg. connect four, battleship, mastermind) 4. Stick toys (eg. Kerplunk, Pop-up Pirate) 5. Wikki stix 6. Tweezer/tong games (eg. avalanche, Operation, ) 7. Squeeze Toys (eg. bath toys, claw activaters, popper toys, roll tongue animals etc) 8. Beads and lacing toys (eg. FILO, HAPE wooden beads) 9. Dice games (eg. Snakes and Ladders, Monopoly, etc) 10. Trigger finger games (eg. Hungry Hippos, jumping frogs) 11. Finger Lights 12. Playdough or putty games (Refer HERE for ideas!) 13. Finger puppets 14. Spinning tops 15. Elastic Band Toys (eg. loom bands, Thumbs up, etc) 16. Toys with small suction pads (eg. Squigz, Stik Bot, Oogi) 17. Screwdriver, nuts and bolts toys 18. Eye droppers 19. Mosaic tile games (Moza Blop - see photo) 20. Peg boards 21. Marble games (eg. Tricky Fingers, marble runs, marble maze) 22. Magnetic boards (eg. Magnatabs, Marbletick, magnetic drawing boards) 23. Stamps with ink pads 24. Stickers 25. Trigger toys (eg. small water pistol, pinball) Don't forget to look around your home for "loose parts"! "Loose parts" might be anything from buttons, toothpicks, pom poms, paper clips, sticks, elastic bands, coins, etc. These make great "tools" for fine motor play. Use them over my "Shape Roads" (which you can receive by subscribing HERE) or "Letter Roads" (read about this HERE). What are your favourite toys for the development of fine motor skills? 
 Disclosure: Affiliate links are included in this article to promote products that I recommend. Reviews and endorsements of products will only be made based on my expertise and personal opinion; and deemed worthy of such endorsement. The opinions shared in sponsored content will always be my own and not that of the advertising company or brand. You may also like:
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AuthorHi, I'm Cindy and I am an Occupational Therapist. I enjoy working creatively with children to see them reach their potential. Read more about me here. 
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Disclaimer: The information on this site is general in nature and should be used for educational and entertainment purposes. The activities are safe for most children, however, you should consult an Occupational Therapist or health professional to address specific movement, sensory or other medical conditions. This blog does not replace formal therapeutic professional advice given by a health professional or medical practitioner. Reviews and endorsements of products will only be made based on my expertise and personal opinion; and deemed worthy of such endorsement. The opinions shared in sponsored content will always be my own and not that of the advertising company or brand. Content, advertising space or posts will be clearly identified if paid, affiliated or sponsored. Affiliate links may be found throughout this website in advertising. This means that if you follow through with a purchase from these links, Your Kids OT will receive a percentage of the sale. Your Kids OT undertakes to meet the requirements of the "Social Media Policy" as published by Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA). Further information about this policy can be found here.
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AuthorHi, I'm Cindy and I am an Occupational Therapist. I enjoy working creatively with children to see them reach their potential. Read more about me here. 
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