Kid-Friendly Tools to Promote Functional Grasp for Future Handwriting Development

Modeling proper grasp and using a variety tools helps kids develop important hand skills for pre-writing & future handwriting.

Are you a parent or a teacher of young children? Are you interested in supporting their functional development of hand skills for pre-writing and handwriting development?

Research shows that pre-writing and handwriting skills play a strong role in literacy development.

Starting children off right with tools that promote essential development of hand muscles for grasping writing tools, fine motor strength, and fine motor coordination can be fun and easy. The key is to kid-size things and set children up for the "just right challenge" during pre-writing activities and play activities. Additionally, having games and items available that don't focus solely on drawing or writing, but still provide the experience and practice needed for little hands to develop in a manner that will support them in drawing and writing in the future is important.

Keeping kids engaged and having fun is essential to setting healthy foundations for participation in pre-writing and future handwriting skills. The following items are some tried and true favorites to do just that- consider adding them to your home, daycare, or classroom. They make excellent gifts, too!

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Crayon Rocks: These tiny sized crayons are shaped to look like rocks and come in a cool collectible bag, just like rocks from a museum. With a small divot on one side for thumb positioning, they are easy for small hands to grasp and use. Due to their small size, little hands must work to manipulate them using a 3-finger grasp (AKA "tripod grasp"), which helps to develop the necessary strength and motor skills needed for functional grasp of pencils, pens, markers, and other writing implements. Crayon rocks are great tools for children with fine motor challenges to use as well.

Learning Without Tears FLIP Crayons: This brilliant collection of crayons comes from the evidence-based, occupational-therapist created handwriting program which used to be known as Handwriting Without Tears. Flip crayons are short, so they promote the tripod (3-finger) grasp, AND, each crayon is two different colors (this is where the "flip" comes in!). These little crayons are designed to not only promote proper grasp development, but to be able to "flip" them in one hand over to the other side for a new color. By encouraging flipping of the crayon, important in-hand manipulation skills are developed in addition to functional grasp. This set is a great addition to Pre K and Kindergarten classrooms, as well as homes!

Crayola Pip-Squeaks Skinny Washable Markers: These short, thin washable markers from Crayola promote functional hand positioning and ease of use with opening and closing practice for little hands. Great for all pre-K and lower elementary grade levels.

Skillmatics Poke in Art for kids ages 4 and up: This art activity is a wonderful way to engage functional grasping skills and work on tripod grasp and precision while engaging in an artistic activity that doesn't require any crayon-to-paper at all! The activity allows children to create art by poking small paper material into holes that eventually fill a variety of shapes. This activity is great to engage a child's fine motor skills, visual attention, and eye-hand coordination skills. Plus, the final product creates a feast for the eyes and a tactile experience for the hands!

Spark & Wow Calm Down Threading Boards: A real favorite- threading boards provide children with an avenue of endless creativity that incorporates the use of the functional hand skills required for pre-writing and handwriting development. By grasping the threading device and moving it along to precisely place it into holes on the board, children are able to complete patterns provided within the game, or they are free to create their own colorful creations. This activity is great because it's portable, no-mess, and can be adapted to support the engagement of children with fine motor challenges. Kid-friendly, and parent/teacher friendly, too!

Grasp development is essential for children to learn how to use a variety of writing implements.