Handwriting Grasps

Our Occupational Therapists receive a lot of questions regarding handwriting and pencil grasp development. See below for a quick breakdown:

• Palmar Grasp: This grasp pattern uses the whole fist and is a typical grasp pattern for 1-2 year olds. It typically begins with the palm facing down (pronated) and progresses to palm facing up (supinated). Writing with a palmar grasp involves the whole arm with a lot of shoulder movement.

• Digital Pronate Grasp: This pattern is typical for 2-3 year olds. It also involves more whole arm movements with limited movement coming from the fingers themselves.

• Static Tripod Grasp: This grasp pattern emerges around 3-4 years. This pattern looks more like a mature pencil grasp, however there is little opening between the thumb and index finger (web space). The child continues to use arm and wrist movement to control the pencil, rather than the fine motor muscles of the hand.

• Dynamic Tripod Grasp: This is a mature pencil grasp, emerging sometime between 4-6 years of age (a big age range!). A child is able to maintain slight wrist extension and an open web space while controlling the movement with the fine motor muscles of the hand. 

  • There are several “mature” pencil grasps in addition to the dynamic tripod grasp, including the lateral tripod (this is my grip!), dynamic quadrupod, and lateral quadrupod. Research has indicated little to no difference in the writing speed or legibility between these “mature” grasp patterns, with the key factor being the use of the fine motor muscles of the hand to control the movement.