The ultimate programme to help children’s pencil grasp development
Supporting Pencil Grasp Development is a programme published by occupational therapist Kim Griffin to help to develop a child’s pencil grasp and pencil control. The programme is suitable for children from three and a half to eight years of age. It is designed for children who are learning to hold a pencil and for those who need extra help to develop a functional pencil grasp.
The programme includes a warm-up song, activities to help develop the fine motor skills needed for a functional pencil grasp and over 400 worksheets. It can be used with an individual child, with a small group or as a whole class intervention. It is available in both a book and online format.
The ultimate programme to help children’s pencil grasp development
Supporting Pencil Grasp Development is a programme published by occupational therapist Kim Griffin to help to develop a child’s pencil grasp and pencil control. The programme is suitable for children from three and a half to eight years of age. It is designed for children who are learning to hold a pencil and for those who need extra help to develop a functional pencil grasp.
The programme includes a warm-up song, activities to help develop the fine motor skills needed for a functional pencil grasp and over 400 worksheets. It can be used with an individual child, with a small group or as a whole class intervention. It is available in both a book and online format.
Which children will Supporting Pencil Grasp Development help?
What does the programme include?
Who can use the programme?
How can I purchase the programme?
There are three options for accessing the pencil grasp programme. You can buy the book. Or, you can purchase the online version. If you want to you can also purchase both. The book provides all of the information required to run the programme and access to some online resources required to run the programme. The online version contains video content where Kim shows you how to do the activities in addition to handouts and the programme resources.
Online access will be sent within 48 hours of payment. We aim to post books within 2 working days, delivery times will vary.
The book includes
The online version includes
We aim to send books within 2 working days of purchase. Delivery times will vary depending on your location. As a guide it may take 7 working days for mainland UK, 15 working days to Europe and 20 working days to the rest of the world.
If you purchase online access you will receive your coupon within 2 working days.
Do I need to purchase both?
Not at all. Both version of the programme are designed to work as standalone products.
Why choose the online version?
The online version comes with an electronic copy of the programme. The videos offer additional support and guidance to help you to understand how to implement the programme. You will have 12 months’ access to the videos.
The online version now includes access to our course ‘Introduction to Fine Motor Skills‘.
Price Guide
Book Only
- No videos
- Pictures of activities
- Downloadable worksheets
- Free UK postage
Online Only
- 12 months’ access to videos
- Videos & pictures of activities
- Downloadable worksheets
- Includes access to ‘Introduction to Fine Motor Skills’
Online & Book
- 12 months’ access to videos
- Videos & pictures of activities
- Downloadable worksheets
- Free UK postage
Other programmes to help children
Fine Motor Skills & Handwriting
Our fine motor skill development programme will help you to support all areas of fine motor skills, not just pencil grasp. The annual subscription (£25) includes our handwriting programme, pencil grasp and scissor skill programmes and another 160 fine motor activities. It also includes access to our training course Introduction to Fine Motor Skills.
Write Rules handwriting programme
Write Rules is the ultimate handwriting solution. The sixty week programme helps children learn to become efficient hand writers. We have simplified our access to all of our fine motor content and combined Write Rules with our fine motor skills programme. You can have access to all of our fine motor content for £25/year, there’s also school subscriptions available.
How do I know if my child is ready for the Supporting Pencil Grasp Development programme?
Firstly, the child must be at least three and a half years of age. Younger children need more time to develop the fine motor skills that make them ready to hold a pencil. The activities in the programme will be too difficult for them. If you are looking for activities to help prepare a child to be ready for this programme you could consider level one and two of the GriffinOT fine motor skills programme. We also discuss foundation skills here in this post Five essential motor skills for handwriting success.
Secondly, it is important that your child is showing an interest in mark making and colouring. This could include scribbling with a marker, attempting to colour a picture or asking you to draw for them. The activities in the programme focus developing pencil grasp and pencil control. If a child is not already showing an interest it will be difficult to get them to participate. Again, it is suggested that the first two levels of our fine motor skills programme is considered.
Running the Programme
What are the sections of the Supporting Pencil Grasp Development programme?
Supporting Pencil Grasp Development consists of three parts. There are 2 warm-up activities. One of these is the song ‘Crocodile Snap’ (see above). There are 14 fine motor activities designed to help children develop the hand and finger control required to develop a mature pencil grasp. In addition, there are 14 activities to help to develop pencil control. This includes over 400 worksheets which are divided into levels to ensure there are options at the right challenge level for every child. If you purchase the online programme there are an additional 400 worksheets and video demonstrations for each activity.
What are the goals of the Supporting Pencil Grasp Development Programme?
- The child will use a functional pencil grasp, see page 14 for details, when using a pencil to colour, draw and write.
- Children will hold the paper with their non-dominant hand when they are colouring, drawing or writing.
- The child will be able to complete the following pre-writing shapes or letters:
- 4 year olds – | – o +
- 5 year olds – above shapes plus a square and oblique lines (\ /)
- 6 year olds – above shapes plus an oblique cross (x), triangle and 60% of the letters of the alphabet
- 7+ year olds – above plus all letters of the alphabet.
- The child will be able to complete worksheets containing multiple curves with 80% accuracy:
- 4 year olds – 2cm thick mazes
- 5 year olds – 1cm thick mazes
- 6 year olds – 0.5cm thick lines
- 7+ year olds – 0.2cm dotted lines.
Who can run the programme?
The programme is designed to be used by teaching staff, including teachers and teaching support staff. It can also be used by parents at home. Adults running the programme are responsible for providing adequate supervision during the activities and adhering to the activity instructions and tips at all times.
Supporting Pencil Grasp Development activities can be used with an individual, a small group or with a whole class.
How frequently do the pencil grasp development activities need to be completed?
Each activity or worksheet takes approximately five minutes to complete. It is recommended that between two to five activities are completed each session. Ideally sessions should be completed a minimum of three times a week. Activities and worksheets could also be included daily before writing sessions at school or home.
How long should we spend on each activity?
Each activity should take approximately five minutes. It is recommended that the activities are completed at least three times before the child moves onto the next activity, however some children may need more practice to be successful. There is a suggested final target given for each activity. If the child has not met this target after three times, they should continue practising the activity until they can reach the target.
How many activities should we do each time?
This will depend on the amount of time you have available and the number of children you are working with. The programme allows you to be flexible. You may wish to use the activities and worksheets as a formal lesson or group. You may also wish to use them as part of your own lesson plan. It is highly recommended that you spend time on both the worksheets and the activities each week, rather than just focusing on one.
Example 1 – Using the programme with an individual
Jon’s mum is running the programme with him at home. She has set aside 20 minutes three times a week. During each session Jon’s mum plans to do both warm-ups, one activity and 3 pencil worksheets. This means Jon’s first two weeks will look like this:
Week 1 – Monday, Wednesday, Saturday
- Warm-up 1
- Warm-up 2
- Activity 1
- Worksheets Level 1 (3-4 sheets)
Week 2 – Monday, Wednesday, Saturday
- Warm-up 1
- Warm-up 2
- Activity 2
- Worksheets Level 1 (3-4 sheets)
Example 2 – Using the programme with a class
Dave has decided to use the programme with his whole class, they are a bit older, so he plans to start at level 4 with the worksheets. He plans to integrate the activities and worksheets into his handwriting lesson time. He will alternate the warm-ups each week. His plan looks like this:
Week 1 – Daily
- Warm-up 1
- Activity 1
- Worksheets level 4 (2 sheets each)
- Continue with handwriting lesson as planned
Week 2 – Daily
- Warm-up 2
- Activity 2
- Worksheets level 4 (2 sheets each)
- Continue with handwriting lesson as planned
What is Crocodile Snap?
Crocodile Snap is a warm-up song created for the programme. You can watch the video above. It aims to help children to find their ‘crocodile fingers’ or the fingers they need to hold onto their pencil when writing. The children follow actions which include whole hand movements and individual finger movements. You can learn more about how to use Crocodile Snap with your child or entire class here. There are also free colouring sheets and classroom wall posters!