Drawing/holding a pencil - why can't she do it?

[emkana]

DD1 is nearly three and can't draw AT ALL. She won't even hold a pencil properly. When I try to show her she gets fed up and doesn't want to do it at all anymore, and I'm a crap teacher with her, really impatient when it comes to this. When she does drawing she scribbles something for 2 seconds, that's it. She won't even colour in, and she can't even draw a circle, or anything else you could recognise. Otherwise she is 'normal' in every way, so do I need to worry about this? Should I just wait and see?

Ask to be referred to an Occupational Therapist. It wil probably mean a long wait, but they deal with fine motor skills, and can assess your daughter , to exclude any physical problems for a start. Having said that, 3 year olds aren't really expected to be able to do too much in terms of drawing. Scribbles, straight lines, crosses, circles, that sort of thing. Good luck.

Emkana - I'm no expert here - but (and you probably do this already)could you leave out pens, paper, paint etc for her to access at will?
Re holding a pen properly - my 3.5 year old hasn't quite got it yet but loves the idea of holding pen between wiggly frogs legs (thumb and first finger), that sit on a lily pad (2nd finger). Show her your wiggly frog legs while you're writing a shopping list.

Meant to add, and the fact that she cannot draw a cricle doesn't necessarily mean she has any problems. She may just need showing how to hold a pencil iyswim. Dd1 had to do summer school OT when she was small, and they concentrated on her pencil grip.

Hmm... my ds (also just three) can't do this either and just scribbles. I haven't seen any other delays of any kind, so am not particularly worried - he'll get there eventually I'm sure once he's interested (which he isn't particularly at the moment).

my dd of 23 months is just NOT interested in pens/crayons and drawing. Friends with children of the same age boast how wonderful their kids can scribble using chalks, felttips even painting. I don't know whether my dd can draw because she won't even try. I bought an easel hoping that would help, it didn't, she just simply has no interest whatsoever.

Does this sound ok to anyone either? Maybe some children aren't interested it would seem.

Chill out! Pencil grip is something that some children are just not ready to do at age 3. They'll get there when they are ready.

Both my two boys have been well past 4 before they held a pencil 'correctly', and reluctant to write at that age. Yet now (5 and nearly 7) they are more enthusiastic about writing than most of their peers, and more competent too.

DS1 used to hold a pencil like a screwdriver long past 4 (his birthday is July so he started school aged 4 and 6 weeks) - he's 15 now and has quite nice handwriting!

I know lots of children can hold a pencil and draw quite well much earlier than your dd, but equally lots can't, so as she is "normal" in other ways no, don't worry!

Have you tried the special triangular pencils/finger guides to help her hold it properly btw?

i dont know any under 3's who can draw 'properly'. i know lots who enjoy painting paper till it falls apart and lots who enjoy randomly decorating walls tho!
my ds in 3 and a half and can now sort of write his name, draw 'kisses', and a person with arms coming out of its head if and only if hes in the mood but couldnt do this 2 mnths ago.