Tripod grip

[WibbleWobble]

helllooooo!

I have a little lad who is 38 months old and he is a not really interested in mark making/craft etc!

He knows his colours, can count to infinity (well up to 15), recognises numbers up to 10, is starting to look at letters and sounds out words - he told me me we spell katie "Kay Tee" as that is how it sounds....clever eh?

he has fab speech and is very very imaginative. Loves stories and books too. Brilliant with others, caring and funny. always up for a good game of something.

Mum says he spends very little time making or painting etc. Its not just with me.

I leave stuff out to mark make (its difficult to have paint etc out due to babies) and he can access stuff to make junk models.

i am glad the weather is improving as i get water out and they "paint" everything and also we have the outdoors chalk board.

He likes playdoh and we make our own (he is an expert now)- i have laminated some lovely pictures of letters for him to press the doh to.

also i do mark making in flour, sand whatever with him.



now my problem?

he holds a pencil mostly in a palmer grasp and a brush grasp.

I want to encourage him to have a proper tripod or at least an emerging tripod grip. i dont want to put him off mark making as he does it so infrequently.

I thought about some tripod grips to put on pencils and some fancy topped pencils to encourage him to make marks- possibly get him a markmaking belt to he can be a bit like tree fu tom and his other super heroes.

what do you think?

any ideas on a post card to...


wibble the flummoxed

x

[skatie]

I saw on the internet a couple of days ago, a good way to encourage the tripod grip was to get the child to hold a tissue in the last two fingers of their hand (little finger and ring finger)which would then only leave the three 'writing fingers' free. Wish I could find the image but hopefully you get the idea. My ds school had a writing meeting and suggested that children may like to mark make using a clip board as it makes them look grown up.

[WibbleWobble]

I saw on the internet a couple of days ago, a good way to encourage the tripod grip was to get the child to hold a tissue in the last two fingers of their hand (little finger and ring finger)which would then only leave the three 'writing fingers' free. Wish I could find the image but hopefully you get the idea. My ds school had a writing meeting and suggested that children may like to mark make using a clip board as it makes them look grown up.


i have mini clip boards with a pencil on a string (good for writing lists)

i have ordered a mark making tool belt and some grip things.....lets see how it goes.

Dont want to "make him" do anything.....just want to let him do it with my "encouragement" and him not realise its being "done" IYKWIM.

Whats got me thinking about this is i have been updating his LJ and i noticed he was hitting everything on the 30-50 months sheets and now was onto the 60+ sheets with bits (yes i know bright eh?) but the emerging tripod grip was not being achieved.....so.....that was the reason i put this thread on....

wibble the greatful xxxxx

[Carolc]

Try getting tongs and getting him to pick up marbles and small objects to encourage this tripod grip. this is an emergent writing technique for 3-5 or younger if that's where they are at Xx

[WibbleWobble]

Try getting tongs and getting him to pick up marbles and small objects to encourage this tripod grip. this is an emergent writing technique for 3-5 or younger if that's where they are at Xx


i was looking at them


added to basket.........eh you lot! i am spending money here and its all your fault!!


wibble the flush x

[blue bear]

Try to think of activites to strength the thumb and fingers, so things like marble run (small marbles) micro lorries with micro cars, put hundreds and thousand in a egg cup so he has to use his thumb and fingers to pick them up to sprinkle on cakes rather than his whole hand, threading ribbon through fine wire in the garden or on willow circles to make dream catchers. Fine sand in a tray and small sticks to 'write' in it. Get mum to spray shaving foam on the tiles next to the bath for him to draw in. Sewing on cards or with real needles on felt to make a fathers day gift etc.

Put elastic bands tightly on pencils to encourage grip.

[Carolc]

Be worth it though lol. Don't spend too much you can get tongs from poundland and marbles and small craft balls and lollipop sticks Xx

[jo.jo76]

We use water sprays and empty washing up bottles to mark make in the garden, fill them with plain or coloured water, both good for strengthening the muscles in hand

Edited to add - also clean medicine type syringes or pipettes too

[MessybutHappy]

How does he hold his knife and fork? Can you encourage the use of three fingers over five while he's eating? Hands on top of the cutlery, index finger used to push down. (I have no idea how a child this age would use cutlery, but the thought was there, so I decided to share!)

[loocyloo]

Be worth it though lol. Don't spend too much you can get tongs from poundland and marbles and small craft balls and lollipop sticks Xx

someone, somewhere ( :D ) recommended strawberry hullers as smaller than tongs and easier to use. STRAWBERRY HULLER REMOVE STRAWBERRY TOPS & STEMS EASILY | eBay (http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/STRAWBERRY-HULLER-REMOVE-STRAWBERRY-TOPS-STEMS-EASILY-/130731145445?pt=UK_Kitchen_Accessories&hash=item1e702ef8e5)

[Carolc]

Perfect you could also use tweezers as well. I'm going to have to invest in some of this stuff too for my wee one Xx

[hectors house]

Some fantastic ideas from everyone, I know I read somewhere that boys actually find it very uncomfortable to hold a pencil correctly. I have one who always wants to hold it like a spear and no matter how many times I show him how to hold it he just forgets - I drew a line with a felt tip pen on the bit of skin between thumb and forefinger to remind him where the pen should rest and he seems to remember better now but now all the others want lines too!

[loocyloo]

Some fantastic ideas from everyone, I know I read somewhere that boys actually find it very uncomfortable to hold a pencil correctly. I have one who always wants to hold it like a spear and no matter how many times I show him how to hold it he just forgets - I drew a line with a felt tip pen on the bit of skin between thumb and forefinger to remind him where the pen should rest and he seems to remember better now but now all the others want lines too!

i was on a course about 'boys' a few months ago and one of the things that jumped out at me is that the bones in boys wrists generally don't develop/fuse as early as girls do, which is why girls are much better ( on the whole ) at fine manipulative skills. boys are usually coming up 6 before they have the smae fine manipulative skills as girls. also the same with ankles? or something which is why they are not so good at sitting still! i can't find my course notes to find actual data, and obviously its not every boy/girl that can't/can, but its something to do with the different way each sexes bodies/bones grow/develop & mature!

[jo.jo76]

i was on a course about 'boys' a few months ago and one of the things that jumped out at me is that the bones in boys wrists generally don't develop/fuse as early as girls do, which is why girls are much better ( on the whole ) at fine manipulative skills. boys are usually coming up 6 before they have the smae fine manipulative skills as girls. also the same with ankles? or something which is why they are not so good at sitting still! i can't find my course notes to find actual data, and obviously its not every boy/girl that can't/can, but its something to do with the different way each sexes bodies/bones grow/develop & mature!

I agree and it's best not to try and force them to do it. I saw something the other day (will try and find it) which said if the child is having problems with pencil grip get them to do the monkey bars at the playpark every day because pencil grip starts at the shoulder!

[WibbleWobble]

I agree and it's best not to try and force them to do it. I saw something the other day (will try and find it) which said if the child is having problems with pencil grip get them to do the monkey bars at the playpark every day because pencil grip starts at the shoulder!


this is why i am getting him some fun stuff to play with...i dont want him put off by mark making. The tree fu tom belt thing looks fab abd i hope it encourages him to mark make more (try saying that with no teeth in)


than you all for all your lovely advice

wibble xxxxx

[jo.jo76]

Found the article/blog, hope the link will work. Moving Smart: "M" IS FOR MONKEYBARS: Getting Ready for Writing (http://movingsmartblog.blogspot.co.uk/2011/05/m-is-for-monkeybars-getting-ready-for.html)

[WibbleWobble]

Found the article/blog, hope the link will work. Moving Smart: "M" IS FOR MONKEYBARS: Getting Ready for Writing (http://movingsmartblog.blogspot.co.uk/2011/05/m-is-for-monkeybars-getting-ready-for.html)


thats very good Jo Jo....thanks. The monkey bars may be a problem but there are other ways of strengthening the wrist. He is always up for stuff so i think he would enjoy wheel barrows etc


wibble xxxxxx

[jo.jo76]

Yes, there's some good ideas there and elsewhere on the blog not just for writing

[The Juggler]

hon, totally agree with the others. lots of activities to increase the strength of muscles in his hand (some children - especially boys) don't devleop this til they are 5 or 6.

What about a stick and drawing in the mud, or with painting, paint a colour then use other end of brush handle to draw marks in the paint. Large brushes for water painting on the floor outside or a mark making activity such as playing cafes in the house. Ask him to 'take your order' getting him just to scribble down what you say however he wants to :thumbsup:

[CLL]

At my sons nursery they often threaded Cheerios onto plastic knitting needles. Anything which involves using a pincer grip is good. Can he maybe sort out really small objects so he has to use this grip to pick them up.

[Houlgated]

I did a course on mark making last year and ghere wax a focus on boys due to statisticlly not progressing as well as girls. Some ideas they had were:
Sellotape paper underneath tables - boys more likely to mark make in a 'den' than day at a table
Blackboards/paper on fences to encourage them to mark as they go past on bikes etc
Chunky chalks in puddles - boys like making mess ;-)
Usually threading cards are quite 'girly' so get some pictures of things boys are interested in eg spiderman, Ben 10 laminate/stick to card and punch holes to get them to thread laced through
Tweezers and a range of objects to sort into different pots - I bought some jumbo tweezers on amazon recently for a couple of quid.
Making monster stones - big stones, draw faces on.
Using clothes pegs to clip onto things to strengthen pincer grip
Can't think of anything else right now but hope that's given you some new ideas

[littlemiss60561]

Interesting thread. I'd forgotten about the monkey bars promoting writting skills. Thanks Jo !
Also,to encourage mark making, my old mindies used to love finding secret messages hidden on paper from candle wax. They painted over it to reveal the message/ picture . In fact my current ones are all for playing pirate islands at the moment so I think I'll be doing clues to the treasure like this on Monday lol! X marks the spot arrrrrgh ... Lol