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You are here: Home / Handwriting Help / Why You Should Break Crayons (On Purpose)

Why You Should Break Crayons (On Purpose)

April 5, 2016 by Amy Smith

Have you ever heard your child say, “I’m not using that crayon, its broken!”? Maybe you agreed with the child and thought to yourself that it would be best to de-clutter the crayon box and just throw those broken crayon pieces away.  This post will help you to re-consider tossing those broken crayon pieces away and instead give you insight as to why those broken pieces are valuable tools to help with your child’s handwriting skills.

Learn how to improve kid's pencil grasp through this simple tip about broken crayons.  Try out this easy idea.

How is your child holding their crayon?

Have you noticed how your child is holding his crayons?  Take a look at this timeline of suggested grasp patterns (adopted from the Peabody Developmental Motor Scales Growth Chart) and see if your child’s grasp pattern aligns with the suggested recommendations.

Please note that these are only suggested guidelines and variations can occur; however this growth chart is considered the “norm” for many occupational therapists and handwriting professionals. 

(0-12 months)- The child is grasping crayon with all five fingers in a fist formation on the crayon

Fist grasp

 

(12-15 months)- The child should begin to grasp the pencil with 5 fingers on the crayon (spread out, not in a fist pattern anymore) but with an index finger and wrist pointed downward towards the paper.

5 finger grasp

 

(3-3.5 years)- The child should be able to hold a crayon with 2 fingers (thumb and pad of index finger) with 3 other fingers secured in palm.  Or the child should be able to use a static tripod grasp with 3 fingers on the crayon (thumb, index, and middle finger) with the child holding the crayon between the pad of the index finger and thumb, and resting on the side of the middle finger.  In a static tripod grasp, the whole hand moves as a
large unit, rather than moving with refined individual finger and wrist movements

static tripod

 

(3.5-4.5 years)- The child should be able to hold a crayon with only 3 fingers holding onto the crayon (thumb, index, and middle) in the static tripod grasp mentioned above.  The difference at this age is that the child’s finger and wrist movements are becoming more refined and are able to be separated from whole hand and arm movements (dynamic tripod grasp).  This is the ideal grip for the rest of the child’s life and into adulthood!

How Can I Improve My Child’s Pencil Grasp?

If your child is not on target with these recommendations, don’t panic, in most cases, changes can occur.  When children are still young and developing, their pencil grips are still able to be changed, corrected and developed much easier than later on into older childhood.  In many cases, when young children do not use a mature grip for their age, it is due to a decrease in hand strength and dexterity.

The best solution for improving pencil grips is not sit the child down and have him just continue practice writing and gripe at him to “hold the pencil the right way”(this will only cause more stress on both you and the child without helping address the real issue).  The most effective way to help promote a more mature pencil grip is through active play and weight bearing activities with their hands.  Here are some ideas for fun active play that will strengthen your child’s hands and in turn improve pencil grip!

  • Crawling (even if they are older children and can walk or run, incorporate crawling into obstacle courses, relay races, hide and seek games, etc..) crawling girl

 

  • Climbing (go to a playground and use the climbing apparatuses)

climbing wall

  • Tug-of-War gamestug of war

 

  • Hanging from monkey bars (even if they can’t advance, just hanging from the bar will help)

hanging from bar

 

  • Building objects with Playdohplay doh

 

  • Yoga Posesyoga

 

Please note: Despite what some kids (and parents) would like to believe, playing video games with hand held controllers is not an effective method for hand strengthening.

So, why break the crayons?

Until the child’s strength develops further or until bad habits are corrected, breaking crayons into small pieces prevents the child from grasping the crayon with 4 or 5 fingers and forces them to hold the crayon with 3 fingers instead.  For a child with an immature grasp, holding onto a short, broken crayon with 3 fingers will be difficult and awkward at first.  But, as the child increases his strength (through active play), holding the crayon with 3 fingers in a tripod grasp will become easier to do.  Plus, it will also be easier for the child to form a good habit at a young age, rather than break a bad habit at an older age.  So yes, please break those crayons!

DSCN4653


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Related

Filed Under: Handwriting Help, Therapist's Tips Tagged With: fine motor activities, handwriting, pencil grasp, pincer grasp

Disclaimer

Kids Play Smarter is a blog about general ideas, theories, and concepts related to the field of occupational therapy and the growth and development of all children. The information presented on this blog is not intended to serve as or replace occupational therapy services for your child. The information on this blog is for entertainment, informational, and educational purposes only. This blog is not meant to replace formal professional consultation or evaluation from a qualified clinician. All children need to have the approval of a physician to participate in physical activities, including those described on this blog. In addition, children need to be supervised by a responsible adult at ALL times when completing activities that are illustrated and described on this blog. The author of this blog is NOT responsible or liable for any damage, injury, accident, illness, death, or adverse reaction due to participation in the activities described on the website.

Comments

  1. Jaime Spencer says

    May 9, 2016 at 10:56 pm

    This is a great post! I am such a fan of broken crayons! Another things parents should know is that those “JUMBO” crayons are for BABIES! I wrote about that here:

    http://www.missjaimeot.com/about-those-cray…ents-should-know/

    because I found that parents were sending their kindergarten students in with baby crayons- TOO BIG!
    Thanks for spreading awareness!

    • Amy SmithAmy Smith says

      May 9, 2016 at 11:19 pm

      Yes great addition to the info! I get a lot of questions about jumbo crayons too…. I tell them to save their money on those and just break the regular crayons! Thanks Jaime!

  2. tj says

    June 28, 2016 at 3:39 pm

    I am a preschool teacher and break all of my crayons…or use HWT flip crayons. Is this article available in print so that I may share it with our parents?
    Awesome, love this site!

    • Amy SmithAmy Smith says

      June 28, 2016 at 7:44 pm

      Thanks TJ! I’m glad you enjoyed the article! I like the HWT flip crayons too. You can print the article from the website or copy the link to disperse to parents. Hope that helps! 🙂

  3. mlmnttlkr says

    August 13, 2016 at 3:17 pm

    And what should a grip look like between 15 months and 3 years? That’s a huge gap!

    • Amy SmithAmy Smith says

      August 14, 2016 at 2:40 am

      During that time, the child is developing a grasp from a pronated 5 finger grasp into the static tripod grasp (it takes some time, strength, and practice to get it down consistently). Good question!

Welcome to Kids Play Smarter

Amy Smith I am an occupational therapist with over 10 years of experience working with children. I created this website to offer parents, teachers, and therapists FREE ideas, strategies, and activities that they can do with their children to improve their fine and gross motor skills, handwriting, academic learning, and regulate their sensory system all while "playing" (just playing smarter)! Read More…

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