How to Teach Pencil Grip: The Order That Works for Young Children

In most school systems, pencil grip is something children are formally taught in their first year of school. In England, the national curriculum for Year 1 asks pupils to “sit correctly at a table, holding a pencil comfortably and correctly” (English programmes of study). Japan’s curriculum puts “correct posture and grip of the writing tool” in the first and second grades (Course of Study for Elementary Schools, 2017, in Japanese).

At home, though, children pick up crayons and pencils long before that. One day you notice your child holding the pencil in a fist, or wrapping the thumb over the index finger, and you start to wonder whether to correct it and how. In this post I go through how pencil grip normally develops, and then share my view on the order to teach it in and how to approach corrections.

Grip develops in stages

Children don’t jump straight to an adult grip. Occupational therapists have studied how grip changes with age, and based on work such as Schneck and Henderson’s 1990 study, the development is usually described in roughly these stages.

1. Whole-hand grasp. Around one to two years. The crayon is held in a fist and the whole arm moves.
2. Finger grasp with the hand turned down. Around two to three. The fingers point toward the paper, and the movement still comes from the arm.
3. Three fingers, but still. Around three to four. The thumb, index and middle fingers hold the pencil, but the wrist and arm do the moving.
4. Three fingers that move. Around four and a half to six. The fingertips make the small movements.

The ages are only a guide, and children vary a lot. What matters is the sequence. A three-year-old holding a crayon in a fist is not behind. They are simply at that stage.

One more study is worth knowing about. Schwellnus and colleagues (2012) compared the grips of children around fourth grade and found no difference in legibility or speed between the textbook three-finger grip and variations such as a different thumb position or a four-finger grip. In other words, there is more than one acceptable grip.

The order I would teach it in

I think it helps to prepare the hand and body before teaching the grip itself. In order, it looks like this.

1. Posture and paper

Sit on a chair where the feet reach the floor or a footrest, with the back fairly straight. The other hand holds the paper still. When posture slips, tension moves into the arm and shoulder before it reaches the fingers, and the grip tends to slip too.

2. Pinching games

Picking up small objects, sticking and peeling stickers, rolling playdough between the fingertips. The pinch between thumb and index finger is the base of a pencil grip. Broken, short crayons are useful too. A short crayon can’t be held in a fist, so the child naturally uses the fingertips.

3. Pinch, then rest on the middle finger

When showing the grip, doing it in front of the child works better than describing it in detail. Pinch the pencil lightly between thumb and index finger and let it rest on the side of the middle finger. That is about as much explanation as a young child needs. Don’t wait for a perfect grip. If the pencil is held in the fingers rather than the fist, that is a good start.

4. Big lines, then small lines

Once the grip is there, draw lines before letters. Vertical lines, horizontal lines, spirals, zigzags. Start large, across the whole page, and gradually make them smaller. The movement shifts from the arm toward the fingers as the lines shrink.

5. Letters

Letters come after lines. I think a child’s own name is the best place to start. I wrote more about when to begin in When Do Kids Start Writing Letters?

How I would approach corrections

Even if a habit has already formed, I think it can be changed gradually.

Don’t stop them mid-writing. Taking a child’s hand while they are absorbed in a drawing or a word tends to put them off writing altogether. Suggesting they try the grip again once they have finished is easier to accept.

One thing at a time. Thumb position, pressure, the angle of the pencil. However many things you notice, pick one for the day.

Look at whether the grip causes problems. As the study above suggests, a grip that differs from the textbook can work perfectly well. On the other hand, if the child presses so hard that the fingertips turn white, tires quickly, or says their hand hurts, that is a reason to change it. If it continues, it is worth asking the child’s teacher or an occupational therapist.

Let them see your hand. Children watch the hands of the adults who write next to them. I believe simply writing together does more than repeating instructions.

Pencil choice matters a little too. A softer lead makes a dark line with less pressure. If a hard lead only gives a faint line, children start gripping harder. A slightly shorter pencil is also easier for small hands than a brand-new long one.

Writing on a screen and writing on paper

Writing on a tablet with a finger uses the hand differently from writing on paper with a pencil. There is no pencil to hold. So practising letter shapes or stroke order in an app does not, on its own, teach pencil grip.

The way I would divide it is this: tracing lines and letters to learn their shapes can happen on a screen, while grip is practised with paper and pencil. There is no need to choose one. Moving between the two works well.

What BrainDojo Kids can do

BrainDojo Kids is an iPhone and iPad app for ages three to six. Children write on the screen with a finger or stylus to practise letters and numbers. Its courses move through four steps: Trace, Copy, Write and Test.

Following the order in this post, the First Lines course fits the line stage before letters. It is designed to get the hand used to the movements it will need with a pencil, and the first four stages are free.

For practice on paper, the Tracing sheets tool prints worksheets, and the first hiragana sheet is free. That way the grip can be checked on paper while the shapes are learned by tracing in the app.

In the parent settings there is a daily time limit, on by default at 10 minutes. There are no ads and no account to create. The app is free to start, and a Premium subscription (monthly or yearly) opens all courses and games.

Getting Started with BrainDojo Kids covers the first session, and Practical Tips for Using BrainDojo Kids Every Day has ideas for keeping it going.