Between one and two years old when children start learning to write, the first grasp most use is the ‘dagger grip’. This is where children grip the pen or pencil around the middle in the palm of their hand, as you would hold a dagger.
This allows the child to draw vertical lines backwards and forwards creating zigzags or scribbles.
To manoeuver a pen like this, means the child has to use their shoulder to move the whole arm, putting little strain on the wrist or elbow.
This movement is very limited, but is used due to the lack of flexibility and strength children have in their wrists and elbows in the early days.
As this is often the first grip used, children should be given thick chunky crayons, thick barrelled felt tips and pens to write with to help them practise and develop their writing skills.
Standard thin pens like biros or pencils which are too thin to hold can force children to hold them uncomfortably and in the long run result in strange gripping styles.
Therefore infants at this stage should be given thick writing tools to use, not thin, until their hands and wrists are sufficiently strong enough to grip a pencil correctly for a length of time.
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