Occupational Therapy -> Handwriting -> Pencil Grasp

Pencil Grasp

Grasp is a developmental skill and begins at a young age. Children may begin to grasp writing tools with their whole fist (1-2 yrs) and move through the developmental stages of grasp including: Digital pronate grasp (2-3 yrs), 4 finger grasp (3-4 yrs), static tripod grasp (4-6 yrs) and eventually use a dynamic tripod grasp (6-7+ yrs). As the grasp develops, more fine motor control is available to write precisely.

Reference links

  • The Importance of Cursive Handwriting Over Typewriting For Learning In the Classroom: A High-Density EEG Study of 12-Year-Old Children and Young Adults 1
    www.frontiersin.org
    Author: Eva Ose Askvik, F. R. (Ruud) Van Der Weel and Audrey L. H. Van Der Meer* - In a recent EEG study, Van der Meer and Van der Weel (2017) found that drawing by hand activated larger networks in the brain compared to typewriting and concluded that the involvement of fine hand movements in note-taking, as opposed to simply pressing a key on a keyboard, may be more beneficial for learning, especially when encoding new information.
  • Handwriting: A Matter of Affairs 2
    files.eric.ed.gov
    Author: Iman M. M. Muwafaq Al-Ghabra, English Department, College of Education For Women, Baghdad University, Baghdad - Mangen and Velay (2010) state that in handwriting, visual attention strongly focuses on the movement of the hand, while in typing, the visual attention scatters between hitting the keyboard and watching the screen. Thus, tracing letters is important for children to improve their writing because they can focus only on drawing letters. Hence, handwriting is better for students than typing to gain more information; Alleyene confirms this (2011). In his article, Alleyne states that handwriting lets the information stick in the brain rather than typing; writing the piece of information is like imprinting it in the brain. In addition, FYI Health Writer (2011) states that since handwriting requires using motor skills which take some time to copy letters, this process helps children to develop their learning and cognition.

Activity List(s)

Visual Schedule Cards

Goal Bank

  • In order to improve handwriting, Peter will practice using an efficient grip of the pencil with demonstration on 24 /26 letters by March 5, 2023 . 0
  • In order to improve handwriting, Peter will demonstrate an efficient grip of their pencil 80% of the time with a maximum of 2 verbal prompts by March 5, 2023 . 0
  • In order to improve handwriting, Peter will demonstrate correct hand placement utilizing a slant board on 3 /5 attempts by March 5, 2023 . 0
  • Chauncey will identify 8/10 upper case letters with minimal prompting as seen in 4 consecutive therapy sessions as a foundational skill for handwriting. 2
  • Given 3 verbal cue, Corazon will initiate holding writing utensil at distal end 90% of the time as measured by observation and data collection in order to improve pencil control during writing tasks. 2
  • Given regulation strategies, Dulcie will hold a pencil and scribble independently on 4 out of 4 trials as measured by observation and data collection over 4 therapy sessions as a building block for handwriting. 1

Resources

Top 20 (View all)

  • Baseball Race Motor Control preview

    Baseball Race Motor Control

    Glenna Nave

    Fine Motor Resource. Dynamic Grasp Resource. Occupational Therapy Resource. Race to be the first player to color in all of the baseballs. Addresses fine motor control skills to promote a dynamic gr...

    4

  • Hearts Color By Number preview

    Hearts Color By Number

    Glenna Nave

    Coloring Resources. Visual Discrimination Resources. Tracking Resources. Directions: Follow the color code below to color the hearts in each row from left to right.

    1

  • Scavenger Hunt preview

    Scavenger Hunt

    Krystan Inman

    A scavenger hunt is fun and can be rewarding. It can boost in self-confidence and offer a sense of accomplishment our children often need. It can build self-esteem and encourage children to mingle ...

    1

  • Story Dice For Language Building and Writing Prompts, Wh- Question Dice preview

    Story Dice For Language Building and Writing Prompts, Wh- Question Dice

    Jessica Lenden-Holt

    Story dice are a fun way to elicit speech, language and writing samples and to target goals in therapy or in centers! Dice include engaging images for writing prompts and conversational starters. T...

    6

  • Half Inch Writing Lines preview

    Half Inch Writing Lines

    Glenna Nave

    Writing Resource. Fine Motor Resource. Occupational Therapy Resource. Half inch wide writing lines.

    1

  • Letter Box Matching - Easter preview

    Letter Box Matching - Easter

    Glenna Nave

    Handwriting Resource. Visual Perception Worksheet. Occupational Therapy Resource. OT. Following the Size Matters Handwriting Program, match the words on the right to the correct size letter boxes o...

    2

  • Camping: Handwriting preview

    Camping: Handwriting

    Glenna Nave

    Handwriting Worksheet. Occupational Therapy Resource. OT Resource. Have students select 6 of the items pictured that they would take on a camping trip and write them in the blanks.

    Includes activity list

    2

  • Let's Draw A Sun preview

    Let's Draw A Sun

    Kimberly Luster. COTA

    Drawing and coloring activity with simple step by step directions.

    6

  • Movie Film Review Writing Prompt preview

    Movie Film Review Writing Prompt

    Jessica Lenden-Holt MA CCC-SLP

    PDF format. Includes: Name, Date, Movie Title, Star Ranking, Writing Prompt (Write a one paragraph review for the last movie you saw), Lined spacing for paragraph

    3

  • Halloween Handwriting preview

    Halloween Handwriting

    Glenna Nave

    Handwriting Resource. Letter Formation resource. Occupational Therapy Resource. OT. This worksheet features 1" writing lines for handwriting practice.

    Includes activity list

    3

  • Letter Box Matching - Farm Animals preview

    Letter Box Matching - Farm Animals

    Glenna Nave

    Handwriting Resources. Fine Motor Worksheet. Visual processing Resources. Occupational Therapy Resources. Following the Size Matters Handwriting Program, match the words on the right to the correct...

    2

  • Pre Writing Tracing preview

    Pre Writing Tracing

    Krystan Inman

    Pre-writing skills are the fundamental skills children need to develop before they are able to write. These skills contribute to the child's ability to hold and use a pencil, and eventually the abi...

    1

  • Easter Activities preview

    Easter Activities

    Krystan Inman

    Easter worksheets addressing various goals such as visual skills, pre writing, and handwriting.

    2

  • OT Homework Form preview

    OT Homework Form

    Glenna Nave

    A form for writing in homework for students with UHC.

    0

  • Letter Box Matching - St Patrick’s Day preview

    Letter Box Matching - St Patrick’s Day

    Glenna Nave

    Handwriting Resources. Fine Motor Resources. Letter Recognition Resources. Occupational Therapy Resource. Following the Size Matters Handwriting Program, match the words on the right with the corre...

    2

  • Handwriting Board Games preview

    Handwriting Board Games

    Krystan Inman

    You can use the handwriting board game with dice in person or dice on the teletherapy platform to address handwriting skills.

    3

  • Kiki's Rainbow preview

    Kiki's Rainbow

    Bethany Ayer

    Fine Motor Resource. Cutting. Scissors. Occupational Therapy Resource. In the first activity, you can help Kiki put the rainbow back together by cutting out each color strip and placing them back i...

    Includes activity list

    4

  • Draw a Ladybug Resource preview

    Draw a Ladybug Resource

    Kimberly Luster, COTA

    Use this resource to draw a ladybug. Drawing and visuospatial skills are important foundational skills for handwriting.

    Includes activity list

    6

  • Spring Handwriting Resource preview

    Spring Handwriting Resource

    Virginia Ingram, CCC-SLP

    Use these handwriting worksheets to practice letter formation. This will also help test receptive language skills as the child will match the word to the picture of the concept.

    Includes activity list

    6

  • Handwriting With Joke Concepts preview

    Handwriting With Joke Concepts

    Virginia Ingram, CCC-SLP

    April Fools Day. Use these handwriting worksheets to practice letter formation. This will also help test expressive and receptive language skills as each of the terms are synonyms for jokes or joking.

    Includes activity list

    4