Blog

Have you ever observed someone holding a pencil in a way that seems uncomfortable, even painful? Perhaps their fingers contort into shapes reminiscent of crooked tree branches or extend in unnatural angles. As an occupational therapist, I can’t help but consider the impact on their joints. Holding them in such positions can’t be good for their long-term health; it’s simply not natural!

A crucial aspect of pencil use is the ability to maneuver the tip in various directions. We need the flexibility to move our fingers up and down for vertical lines, side to side for horizontal lines, and in circular motions for circles, among others. When children grip pencils with locked, hyperextended, or overly flexed joints, it impedes their ability to move the pencil in these necessary directions.

Now, picture a child in a kindergarten classroom. They’re listening attentively as the teacher instructs them to write a sentence to accompany their picture (yes, they do this in kindergarten!). The child must not only formulate their thoughts into words but also recall the spelling, letter sounds, letter formations, and more. It’s a cognitive juggling act!

This is where the Build-a-Grip system comes in. We designed it to seamlessly align with the anatomy of developing hands. Drawing upon our expertise in anatomy, functionality, and educational requirements, we crafted an adaptive pencil grip. Upon implementing these grips, we witnessed their effectiveness firsthand. With a simple setup of three pieces, we found solutions for even the most challenging grips. And that’s when we knew we had something valuable to offer others—a story for another time!

As a practicing therapist, I work to keep a flow to my treatment sessions. We’ve all had that experience of not having exactly what we need when we need it. In that 30 seconds it takes to look for the scissors or that certain worksheet we made sure to copy we risk losing the attention of the child. So what I’ve learned is to keep one setup of each BAG (Build-a-Grip) configuration. That way I can easily grab what I need without having to set the pencil up for each child. There’s nothing worse than having a right-handed client when all I have is a left-handed setup! I keep each of the following handy: 

 

1. Right-handed setup with base and handle
2. Left-handed setup with base and handle
3. Pencil with just the base
4. Webster with base

 

I keep each set up on a short pencil. Using the short pencil helps the child to be able to control the pencil. I have found that when I used the setup with new, long pencils some of my younger children were battling controlling the long end of the pencil, as opposed to being able to focus on holding the pencil. 

 

Most of the children I work with are young with small hands, so I tend to use the handle with the base. The handle and base setup is my first “go-to” when introducing children to an adaptive pencil grip. The handle does an amazing job of getting the hand AND fingers in a position where children can hold a pencil without using some funky trickery of the fingers. Boy have we seen some trickery! You know those children that have such a mysterious grasp that you can’t even imitate it to show your colleagues!

 

There is one exception to the above. If I have a client that hasn’t determined a hand dominance I use the base as a starting point. The base provides a larger surface area to grasp, while the concentric circle around the base gives some traction. This is the place to start when you’re looking at hand dominance. Another trick I use is to have the client use both the right and left-handed handle/base setup. That allows me to see which hand appears more fluid with holding and controlling the pencil. This is just one more way to help students who are struggling with dominance (more on that subject later)!