How to help my son improve his pencil grip and write

by SSD
(Sri Lanka)

My son is 3 years and 10 months and is struggling with his motor skills especially writing and pencil grip.

He does not seem interested in either writing or drawing. Can you please let me know how I can engage him to learn to write and help improve his pencil grip?

Comments for How to help my son improve his pencil grip and write

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Let your son PLAY!
by: OT Mom

Hi there,
There are probably a few reasons why your little boy is not interested in writing and holding a pencil properly. The most important one is that he is probably just not physically ready to hold a pencil. I know that many preschools push for kids to write early, but this does so much harm if they are just not physically ready to write.

Your son needs to spend time playing in ways that will develop his large muscles (gross motor games). These will help his body to get ready for the fine motor skills of holding a pencil. So take him to the park to do lots of climbing and try some of the gross motor and coordination ideas I suggest on my website.

Developing a good pencil grip does not come by getting him to hold a pencil. He first has to get the muscles of his hands ready to do fine motor work. Try some of the kindergarten hand exercises on my site to strengthen his hand muscles.

If you are worried about him falling behind his peers in learning to write, then rather let him learn to draw his letters and numbers in a tray of sand, with thick chalk on a blackboard, or outside on a wall. Or just let him trace the letters in some sand/dirt in the backyard. You can look at this page this page for ideas.

Hope this helps!
Fun toys for motor skills
by: Anonymous

When my son was that age, one thing that helped motivate him to start using his hands/coordinating his movements were Rescue Heroes. They are "chunkier" than the other action hero toys so easier to manipulate them. I like the older versions than the newer ones - could find them on Ebay in addition to the newer ones in stores now. When he got a little older he moved on to Transformers - those were great for fine motor too! He loved them. I know this doesn't sound like it has anything to do with pencil grip, but the more he can use his hands and the more he develops strength in them in a fun way, the better off he'll be when it's time for him to staring working on holding a thick pencil, marker, or crayon when he goes to PreKindergarten (4-5 years old). Good luck! I hope this helps! :-)

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