Guide Kids to Proper Handwriting With Pencil Grips (A Review of The Pencil Grip, Inc.)

Handwriting can be very difficult for some children. I will admit that I always struggled with my handwriting. I'll never forget that in elementary school it was a graded subject for us. And, although I could get straight A's in every other class, I couldn't in handwriting. It was a constant frustration.

As a result, I never stressed handwriting in teaching my own children. And some of them naturally have good handwriting while some struggle. I've found that often, the ones who struggle actually physically struggle because it hurts hands to write for long.

Not long ago, I cam across The Pencil Grip, Inc. This is a company that makes three different varieties of pencil grips to help writers improve their handwriting by improving the way they hold their pencils.

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Why use pencil grips?

Often little children struggle with handwriting because the way they hold the pencil is incorrect. Although we can demonstrate a better way to hold, their little hands and lack of motor control cause them to slip into a difficult writing position.

The Pencil Grip, Inc. has a Three Step Training Kit. I received samples of each of the three types of grip used. You can also find free downloads on the site that include a chart of correct and incorrect handwriting styles as well as training instructions that will help you guide your child into a correct hold for writing.

What are the three grips in the training kit used for?

The Three Step Training Kit contains three main pencil grips.

• The Crossover Grip: This grip is the most controlled, and it has a large surface that will help kids control the crossing over of their fingers as they grip the pencil.
• The Pinch Grip: This grip gives the writer a little more freedom but sill guides fingers into the right position.
• The Original Grip: This grip can be used by writers of all ages. It is used to decrease tension on fingers while writing and to make it more comfortable to hold the writing utensil.

What did we think?

The grips themselves were very appealing when we first received them. They are bright and colorful. They come in many colors, including neon colors and metallic colors. All of us tried out all three grips. I was curious to see if my struggling writers could find writing easier with a pencil grip.

The most restrictive grips- The Crossover Grip- didn't seem to work for any of us. It is a large grip, and it was hard to hold the pencil with it. I could see how the grip might be helpful for a beginning writer who was learning to hold the pencil correctly, but I also wondered if small fingers could hold it.

The other two grips- The Pinch Grip and The Original Grip- really did make holding the writing utensil easier. They are very bendable rubber, so they make a cushion against your fingers as you hold the pen or pencil. It can help if you're writing for long periods of time.

Overall, we could see how the less restrictive grips could really be used to make handwriting easier and to improve the position of your grip. This can definitely improve handwriting.

Where can you find pencil grips?

You can find these basic pencil grips and other grip styles at The Pencil Grip, Inc. or on their Amazon store.

The free downloads on the site help you figure out which grip is right for you and how to use the three main grips in training proper handwriting style.

Disclosure: I received a set of pencil grips free for review. All opinions expressed are my own, and I was not compensated in any other way.

Have you used pencil grips to aid in proper handwriting?