Occupational Therapy Newsletter
Volume 14
Grasp Patterns
December 2010
Why Does it Matter How Kids Hold a Pencil?
How Can We Promote Functional Grasp?
Look in any classroom and you will see a wide
variety of ways that children hold their pencils.
Although the dynamic tripod grasp is considered the
ideal functional pattern, there are other ways to hold a
pencil that are also functional. There are also many grasp
patterns that are not functional and that get in the way of
students’ writing ability.
We use the two sides of our hands for different tasks.
The muscles of the thumb side (radial side) are primarily
controlled by the median nerve and are used for skilled
manipulation. The little finger side (ulnar side) is
primarily controlled
by the ulnar nerve,
and is used for
strength. Think
about how you
would pick up and
use an ice pick
versus how you
would pick up and
use a needle and
Innervation of the hand
thread. Functional
grasp patterns use
the thumb, index and middle fingers for primary control.
When the ring and little fingers control the pencil, and
the thumb, index and middle fingers stabilize, the
student is using strength muscles for manipulation and
vice versa. Functional grasp patterns use the nerves and
muscles for their intended and most efficient purposes.
Teachers and parents can use a variety of activities to
develop the skill of the radial side of the hand and the
separation of the two sides. Here are some examples:
• Activate and play with wind-up toys
• Spin small hand-held tops
• Pop bubble wrap with thumb and index finger
• Draw in the sand with a stick, feathers, or straws
• Use clothespins to help hang up clothes or pictures
• Use squirt guns or spray bottles
• Use eye droppers to drip water mixed with food
coloring or paint
• String beads or other small items (cereal, pasta tubes)
• Push small pegs into foam or therapy putty
• Pinch putty/Play Doh with thumb and index finger
• Pick up small items with tweezers, strawberry huller
or tongs
• Spread layer of clay on cookie sheet and write in it
with a marker end
• Use chalk to draw big on sidewalk
• Pick up small beads/beans with thumb and index
finger and drop in bottle
• Use raw beans, popcorn, coins, buttons etc., hold them
in the palm and manipulate up to finger tips using one
hand at a time
• Sort a dried bean mix into an egg carton
• Draw with broken chalk or crayons
• Lite Brite, Connect Four, Etch a Sketch, Perfection
• Put coins in a slot
• Lacing/sewing cards
• Pop beads
• Nuts, bolts and screws
• Sticker books
• Legos, K’NEX (but don’t use table to push together)
Functional
dynamic tripod
quadrupod
stenographer’s
thumb wrap
thumb tuck
index grip
Non-functional
Prepared by Wendi Buck and Cheryl Fick