Nowadays it’s technology era, people just type on computers, mobile phones, tablets without the need of writing on paper. Most people would not pay attention to pencil grip for handwriting, but you should especially when you have kids, students, people with learning disabilities who struggle with writing.
You may grab a pencil and and hold it the way you normally do, then refer to the photo below to see if your points of strength are used on the right positions. I dare to say not. Different people hold pencils in different ways, and most of them do not realize that they may hold pencils wrongly. When I was a kid, no one taught me the correct way to hold a pencil. Now I suddenly found that my way of holding a pencil is really funny (I hold it with thumb finger behind index finger). How hilarious!
The photo shows inefficient grip that most kids get.
Inefficient grip could lead to a series of problems.
- Wrong sitting posture and bad eyesight.
Kids may tilt their head or bend over on the desk or look closely to books, which affects their eyesight and skeleton growth.
- Hand fatigue, finger bump, contact blisters, unhealthy knuckles.
Kids’ little fingers could be hurt or become deformed.
- Slow writing speed, bad handwriting, low interest in writing.
Kids may write slowly, which extends their writing period. Bad handwriting also discourages kids confidence in writing. Gradually kids will lose interest in writing or even become averse to it.
So what is the correct pencil grip for handwriting? First you need to know 4 points of strength for holding a pencil correctly.
Here is a detailed photo showing correct hand position for writing.
The 1st point is on thumb fingertip.
The 2nd point is on first knuckle of the index finger.
The 3rd point is on index fingertip.
The 4th point is between distal phalanx and fingertip of middle finger.
Correct writing grip is vital for kids through their lifetime, but it’s really hard to teach them the correct way to hold a pencil. That’s what most parents and teachers are distressed with. Great news is that pencil grips can do the job. Pencil grips was long since invented in 1992 by Dr. Lois Provda, a prominent educational therapist, but they have not been widely used.
However, if you looked at the pencil grip market, you will find various types of grippers. How to choose a perfect gripper for your kids or students? From the view of Firesara, we would divide pencil grips into 5 types according to how many finger holes they have. The more finger holes, the more control on fingers.
Grip with 3 finger hole, great for 3-7 year old
The 3-finger hole grip offers control on kids’ 3 fingers. For kids who just start to learn to write, it would be the best to use gripper with 3 finger holes since it quickly fixes kids fingers for writing.
Grip with 2 finger hole, great for 3-7 year old
The 2-finger hole grip offers control on kids’ 2 fingers, normally on thumb and index fingers.
Grip with 1 finger hole, great for 5-8 year old
The 2-finger hole grip offers control on kids’ 1 finger, normally on index finger.
Grip without finger hole but with handle, great for 6 year old +
The handle on the grip is mainly used to prevent kids’ fingers from resting on palm. In this way, it enables finger pulp to gain more force for writing.
Grip without finger hole at all, great for 6 year old +
This is the graduation period since no finger holes will be there to restricted finger movement. Pencil grips with no finger hole can be used for a long period of time in order to reduce hand fatigue and prevent contact blisters. They can also be used for adults who write a lot and hope to reduce hand fatigue caused by writing.
For Firesara pencil grips, you may visit the link here. https://www.firesara.com/collections/school-supplies
