Ways to hold a pencil?

Question

My 7 year old sister has a very odd and wierd way of holding a pencil (or pen, crayon, etc . . ), that makes her writing difficult and messy, and her hand starts hurting soon. Are there different ways to hold a pencil, different grips, etc . . so that I can find one she is comfortable with? She has been writing for about 2.5 - 3 year, but it is becoming more of a problem now.

Answer 1

They actually make grippers for students to hold their pencils correctly...

http://www.nacdbookstore.com/product_inf...

That site is what you are looking for and it will force her to hold a pencil correctly. Fix it now while she's still young.

Answer 2

check this out to see if it helps...

http://www.allkindsofminds.org/learningB...

Answer 3

There are a few things that you can do to help her without her noticing. -- try to develop her fine motor skills -

use a pencil grip - one that is shaped like a triangle would be good. Show her how to use the 1st  finger and thumb to hold the pencil, and support it with her middle finger.

do crafting activities with her - beading would be great. Show her how to bead using a pintcher grip ( w/ the thumb and 1st finger -- these are the correct muscles to develop for holding a pen/ pencil.)

Try a onestroke painting class. The way you hold the brush is verry important -- with time and practice she will discover that she has better control and range of motion with the newly discovered grip.

Make stress balls- (this can be done by using a funnel and a balloon. 1st put the funnel opening into the opening of a baloon carefully add abou 1 cup of sugar/ salt/ sand or flour DRY-- once you have gotten everything in the baloon tie it off and squeeze- this will develop all the muscles in the whole hand and give her more strength in the fingers she needs to use when writing.

Try clay - there is a company called "kids 'n' clay" that is near my town - it is a drop in studio that you could use to do theorpy with her.

talk to her teacher/ your mother. IF she is in public schools she can be observed by the district and they may offer a free theorpy program.

try having her write with the other hand -- maybe she is left handed and has been pushed to write with her right hand.

At her age simply telling her may just make her fustrated, so be sure to make it fun and focus on the positive. This will make her want to keep trying.

Good Luck

Kristin