How Can I Improve My Child's Pencil Grip?

Pencil grip starts to develop in children from as early as three months when they start grasping things with their little hands they are actually developing pencil grip skills.

At the age of eight to ten months, you notice that your child picks up food and stuff with their index finger and thumb, this is called ‘pincer grasp’. This pincer grasp is the first fine motor skills that a child requires for writing.

Children need a lot of activities and exercises to strengthen their hand muscles and practice agility needed for pencil grip. There are several fine motor activities that are performed at the fs1 schools in Abu Dhabi to build proficiency in gripping the pencil as it is crucial for kids to write comfortably without any pain.

Mosaic Nursery is a British preschool in Abu Dhabi that has designed aplenty fun-filled activities to strengthen the muscles that help in writing.

1. Play dough activities:

The kids love play-dough. They squeeze, roll, and flatten the play dough which actually strengthens their muscles of hands and fingers. The lack of strength in their muscles results in difficulties in gripping the pencil and holding other objects.

2. Bottles and Jars activity:

Simply ask the kids to open and close the cap of bottles and jars, this let them use their index finger and thumb. This activity improves the pencil grip.

3. Gardening:

Gardening is not only refreshing activity but helps the kids use a pincer grasp to pick up the seeds and the use of gardening tools helps to strengthen their hand muscles.

4. Cutting with scissors:

The correct use of scissors strengthens the hand muscles, especially the tripod fingers (index finger, middle fingers, and thumb) that provide the foundation in developing the pencil control skills which is a prerequisite for good handwriting.

5. Orange juice activity:

Mosaic Nursery in Reem Island is the best nursery in Abu Dhabi that focuses on basic yet effective techniques to improve the pencil grip. Squeezing oranges to make orange juice is an excellent exercise for strengthening the wrist of kids.

6. Knobbed puzzles:

Get the large knobbed puzzles for the toddlers to improve the pincer grasp skills while for preschoolers you can get small knobbed puzzles.

7. Sorting with the tweezers:

Mosaic is the best nursery in Abu Dhabi that focuses on making activities more fun for kids. Take two craft sticks, paint it to make more attractive and join them with the rubber bands. The kids can sort pom-pom with the craft stick tweezers which eventually strengthens their muscles for pencil grasp.

8. Eye-dropper activity:

Eyedropper activity is a great exercise for pre-writers as it strengthens their index finger and thumb muscles that are used for pencil grip. All you need is colored water and an eyedropper and it can keep the preschooler busy.

9. Small writing tools:

Introduce small writing tools like small crayons, mini color pencils, and chalk bits so that the kids can easily hold it with their tripod fingers while drawing and coloring.

10. Provide a Vertical Surface:

Place a whiteboard on the wall at the shoulder height of your child as working on a vertical surface strengthens their arm and shoulder stability.

Hope this article helps you improve your child’s pencil grip.