Our usual answer is that by the end of first term of Kindy, students should be holding the pencil with a tripod grasp. The reason we want this is because writing, drawing and colouring really starts to increase from that point, and not having an unusual pencil grasp checked out could lead to pain, fatigue and problems with legibility later down the track.

To help your child or students hold the pencil in an ergonomic way, encourage them to:

• hold their pencil in a way that allows their hand and fingers to move freely and easily
• hold the pencil between the thumb, fingers, index and middle fingers
• have an open webspace between the thumb and first finger
• bend their thumb at the joint and not wrapping it over other fingers to prevent smooth movement and control
• hold the pencil about one-two finger widths from the tip of the pencil (especially for left handers)
• make sure there are no red marks on the child’s hand after they have been writing (this is an indicator of inefficient pressure)
• have their wrist in a fairly straight line rather than excessively bent (especially left handers)