Reluctant writer: will grip strength develop naturally?

[dodi1978]

I've got a DS who is 4.8. Started reception in September being just four (August born).
He was never keen on anything to do with pens - not keen on drawing, tracing lines, writing. Generally, fine motor skills are not 'his thing'. For comparison, DS2 who is 1.6 is able to put a straw in a small pack of orange juice and will also help himself confidently to his favourite, sliced salmon, straight from the pack if mum is not quick enough (strange boy, I know....).
Anyhow, DS1's teacher asked us to try to develop his grip strength and gave us a website with some exercises. We are trying, but with both of us full time working an DS2 around (who is walking / climbing) and a general liability, it is tricky to find the time!
So please tell me about your reluctant writers: was there a time when they became a bit keener? What helped them? Did their grip strength just develop automatically?

I'm not a mum (yet!) but I used to work in a primary school and I used to have interventions with a boy (who was around 4/5 when we first started doing this) who couldn't write well and had no interest in doing so unless he was made to in lessons - we used other ways to practice his fine motor skills so he didn't get frustrated or fixed on the fact that he wasn't as good as his classmates. I used to fill a tray full of sand and he'd use a stick or his fingers or whatever to draw in the sand (can be a good game/competition between you both haha!). Or play dough/modelling was always highly recommended - it's not writing, but it uses all the muscles in the hands so he'll gradually develop more control over them.

Another one was where he'd choose a friend or two and they'd have a timer, a pair of giant tweezers each, and a tray of small objects (I feel like it was beads, but it was a while ago now so may be remembering wrong...). You'd set the timer and then they'd have 30 seconds to pick up as many beads as they could with the tweezers. This definitely got competitive!!

Sorry if this isn't helpful - I'm sure there are loads of mums out there who can offer you more practical advice

Oh, but if it helps, his writing improved massively over the course of the year - I think through a combination of practicing writing in class and his interventions (which he never realised has anything to do with writing so he night we were just playing games for 10 mins each day )

Oh also, this might not work for you but thought I'd mention it anyway, we absolutely had to make sure he used a pencil grip in class. His teacher or I would remind him before he started writing - I have a feeling that we tried to make him feel a bit special by having one, so he didn't feel left out/different because no one else had one. Think he hated it at first lol, but gradually it became a habit and I think that probably helped too

another game to try is a lump of play doh with say, 15, items hidden inside it, may a small screw, a nut or bolt, a sea shell and shiny pebble, a button, etc, then 2 minutes to see how many he can find, pulling the play doh open and pulling things out is good for building up the hand muscles

Thank you for all your suggestions, these are great! I like the hiding o items within play dough and the picking up stuff with tweezers - he enjoys a challenge! Now I must just find a way of hiding toy dinosaurs in play dough and we're on a winner....

Have you explored with your doctor or through school if he has dyspraxia?

I heard a discussion on the radio about this becoming a problem that is seen more and more in EY classes. The children can use an iPad with a finger but have not played with toys sufficiently to develop hand and arm muscles. There was a lengthy discussion about where your muscles are that control fingers!

However, the specialist on the programme did recommend play doh, mixing anything up with hands, (making your own play doh, cooking etc) use of sand trays and any play or exercise that involves gripping and releasing, eg holding onto play equipment and catching and throwing a ball.

Your child is not alone but if he wants the tablet all the time, replace it with hand and arm exercises!

My son is August born too. We also used pencil grip and kept one in his playroom and one in his bedroom. He used it till year 1 and now has lovely handwritting.

My DD didn’t use the correct pen grip in reception and was put into an intervention group for her fine motor skills. The group did activities like the ones described above, so no writing involved. By the end of reception her writing was ok for her age and she could hold a pencil correctly when reminded. By the end of year one she reliably held her pen correctly and had the best handwriting in the family . She now writes for pleasure.

Trying to put clothes pegs on members of the family - without them noticing- is a game that requires finger control. ( Make it competitive with different colour pegs for different children)

Play dough is definitely your friend here, encourage your DS to make 'dinner' (rolling peas or beans into a ball will strengthen his hand muscles fantastically) then get him to cut it up the food using a knife and fork.

Board games like 'pick up sticks' and 'Operation' are great for developing the grip you want too.

My Reception class love to hammer golf tees into hard fruit and veg then stretch elastic bands around the tees.

We also pair socks and peg dolls clothes on to washing lines.

You can buy large plastic tweezers cheaply from eBay or Amazon. My class love to race each other to see who can pick up the most objects before the sand timer runs out. We change the objects regularly but pasta, buttons and beads are all a good size for this.

Threading pasta onto a straw or pipe cleaner is another easy activity he could do.

His grip will develop naturally over time so don't try to force it, but 5 - 10 minutes of these activities each day will strengthen the muscles in his hands and have a far bigger impact on his motor control and pencil grip than you could ever imagine!

Currently working on this with DS - have been encouraging him to draw with chalk which he seems to enjoy more, but taking note of grips/pencils recommended - thanks!

Yes to play dough, then increase the challenge and move onto proper clay - its harder to manipulate.

Ds, now 6.5 and year 1, had a huge problem with this last year and it has improved lots with his physical development. School did writing intervention and we used a special pen to help with grip (easy start by stabilo). I posted a thread on here and got loads of good suggestions if you want to search for it.

Strengthening their upper body is also recommended to improve grip - lots of wheelbarrow exercises! We encouraged ds with tracing and pen control workbook too which seemed to help.

DS1 has dyspraxia. We used to do 30 minutes play dough or lego a day (everyday) to help build muscle strength. His OT said play dough was better than forcing writing for developing the correct muscles.

I encouraged writing and to think about letter formation in parallel in many ways, like using a paint brush and bucket of water and writing names and words on paving slabs/ the house wall in the garden. Using a stick and writing in the sand pit/ on the beach/ in mud.

Separating lego bricks is also good for finger strength.

However, he may need to start with shoulder and arm muscles first - painting with water on a wall, pulling on ropes, climbing a ladder, flying a kite etc. all help to develop the large muscles needed to support writing.

Alongside this, all the great suggestions about playdough, lego, squeezing out sponges, picking up peas etc. are good for hand strength. If you go on to pinterest and just look up "fine motor skills activities", there are loads to choose from.

My ds had good fine motor but gross motor skills were really behind.
They need both to be a good writer. Worth searching for Mrz's list of activity for fine/gross motor skills.

We had this with our second DC - would never lift a pencil spontaneously, and had very poor handwriting. We had done loads of handwriting practice, seen OTs, had dyslexia screenings - we were on the verge of getting an Ed Psych assessment done.

I happened to come across a specialist optician who does school vision assessments - DS had an issue with his eyesight which was corrected with coloured lenses. It might be worth considering? They are called behavioural optometrists, and can be found here: BABO