Why Your OT Recommends using SHORT CRAYONS!

The following dialogue is one of the most common conversations in the world of school-based occupational therapy.

Parent/Teacher: "How can I help my child/student develop their tripod (3-finger) grasp for writing?"

OT: "I recommend letting your child use short crayons for coloring. You can buy them, or even break your crayons to be the perfect size."

Parent/Teacher: "What?? Break my crayons? No way! Why?!"

To understand the why behind this suggestion, one needs a little understanding of how the human hand is built. The anatomy of the human hand is extensive and very involved. Human hands are built for prehension – that is being able to stabilize one part of the hand so that other parts (thumb, index finger, and middle finger) can control something else with precision- like holding and moving a pencil or Ipad stylus with good control.

On a basic level, one can envision the hand as having two different sides that develop over time to perform different functions. One side of the hand (thumb, index finger, middle finger) develops to perform the ability to grasp, manipulate, and control objects within it. The other side of the hand (ring finger & pinkie finger) will develop to provide stability to the hand while the other 3 fingers can be most efficient at grasping and controlling the use of tools as described before. This is the way that the muscles are anatomically organized, and with the right positioning and movement experiences, the development of the strength and coordination of these muscles can be enhanced by using easy, every day materials that allow a “just right” level of experience. Typical activities that require prehension skills for children are turning pages of a book, putting socks and shoes on and taking them off, holding a pencil, crayon, or paintbrush, turning and pressing buttons to open a toy, and opening packages and containers. Providing children with the opportunities to develop functional hand skills leads them to be able to find success with writing, scissors skills, dressing skills, and more!

The catch is that you can give your child certain tools that promote the proper development of their hand muscles automatically. Having your child use the right tools can also act as a preventative to development of poor grasping patterns that are hard to undo once the child is older.

So, WHY short crayons? Using short crayons is one way to help a child to develop the hand skills needed to explore their environment, play with toys, and engage in pre-writing and writing skills as needed for leisure or school. By using a short crayon (about 1-inch in length), a child will naturally have to use their thumb, index finger, and middle finger to hold it and use it on paper. Short crayons will help to encourage proper tucked-in position of their ring finger and pinkie finger into the palm to build the muscle strength needed to stabilize the hand so the other three fingers can manipulate those toys, opening containers, and build the fine motor coordination needed for coloring and writing skills.

Short crayons provide a natural way for a child to develop important prehension skills through building fine motor strength and coordination. Using short crayons can be helpful to use with children who have developed poor grasping skills, or as a preventative way for children who are at risk for poor fine motor coordination or grasping due to illness or disability.

So, as OTs love to say, whether you are a teacher or a parent, use the tools and environment to your advantage to help your kids! Keep those old crayons, break the new ones, or purchase crayons such as the Flip Crayons made by the OT-created Learning Without Tears company. Another favorite recommendation of mine is Crayon Rocks, which are soy-based wax crayons that are shaped as “rocks” and come in a cute little bag. Kids absolutely adore them!

The profession of OT is all about integrating knowledge and expertise based on the person, the environment and the task at hand to promote participation and function.

When you provide kids with the tools to promote the skills you are looking for, it sets the stage for natural development on their part, and makes your job as a parent or teacher much, much easier!

Topic: Writing, coloring, tripod grasp, hand development, child development, handwriting