by Miss Jaime | Grip/Grasp
A few years ago I was doing a PD session for a group of first-grade teachers and I taught them the “Alligator Chop” — a grip cue song where children snap their fingers like an alligator’s jaws before picking up their pencil (The TV Teacher, 2011)....
by Miss Jaime | Grip/Grasp
Walk into most elementary classrooms and you’ll see children writing flat on their desks. Worksheets flat. Drawing flat. Coloring flat. Everything flat. Walk into my OT class push-in session and the first thing I do is prop something up. I’ve been...
by Miss Jaime | Grip/Grasp
A Visual Guide to Pencil Grip Development That Actually Makes Sense Last week, a kindergarten teacher showed me her classroom pencil grasp poster and asked, “Why doesn’t this match what I’m seeing with my kids?” She pointed to five different...
by Miss Jaime | Fine Motor & Bilateral Skills, Grip/Grasp, Handwriting & Visual Motor Skills, School Services: OT
The Truth About Pencil Grip Research That Every OTP, Teacher, and Parent Needs to Know I cannot tell you how many times I’ve heard it in IEP meetings, teacher lounges, and even OT conferences: “Well, research shows that grasp doesn’t really matter...
by Miss Jaime | Fine Motor & Bilateral Skills, Grip/Grasp, Seasonal
1. Make a simple gift! Use fine motor skills with simple gifts kids can make using simple items such as stringing beads onto a pipe cleaner to create a bracelet. 2. Reduce • Reuse • Recycle! Teach your kids to recycle gift boxes, bags, tissue paper. ...
by Miss Jaime | Grip/Grasp, Fine Motor & Bilateral Skills, Handwriting & Visual Motor Skills, Primitive Reflexes
A bunch of people emailed us and asked on social media: “What causes an inefficient pencil grasp, anyway?” There’s no easy answer to this one. A few reasons for an inefficient or maladaptive pencil grasp are: Overexposure or increased access to...
