Holding a Pencil

Often times students develop an irregular way of holding a pencil.  Sometimes their writing is fine with their irregular grasp but other times it interferes with forming letters neatly or makes the student tire too quickly when writing.  Starting with a tripod grasp on a pencil can avoid those problems. Here is one way to teach pencil grip.

Make an all is okay symbol with your fingers.         

Place the pencil between your thumb and finger with the writing side close to your thumb and finger.

Lay the eraser end down so it is resting on the webspace on the back of your hand.

Curl your fingers under to make a pillow for the tip of the pencil.

Activities to encourage a tripod grasp

Use small pencils or crayons.

Use large diameter pencils or crayons.

Practice picking up items using tweezers.

Make a porcupine with play dough. form a ball and poking toothpicks into playdough.

Use your index finger and thumb to flick plastic bottle tops across the table. See whose goes the farthest!