Help kid’s pencil grasp and handwriting with the 7 best pencil grips that are perfect for school and home. Learn which pencil grip is the best one for your kid!
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When I started working with kids as an occupational therapist around 2004, pencil grips weren’t being used as often as they were needed. They were hard to come by, having to order them out of specialty therapy catalogs.
Thankfully, that’s no longer the case. You can find some basic pencil grips for kids at Target or Walmart, and order a wide variety on Amazon and various other sites around the web.
With so many to choose from, how do you know which pencil grip is best for your kid? For that matter, how do you know your kid even needs a pencil grip?
That’s just what you’ll find out in this blog post!
When Does a Child Need a Pencil Grip?
Pencil grips can be a helpful tool to help any child that’s having a hard time holding their pencil, crayon, or any writing utensil correctly.
Occupational therapists call this their grasp. Ideally, we want kids to hold their pencil with a dynamic tripod grasp which is their index finger, middle finger, and thumb holding onto the pencil only. See the examples of the proper grip in this picture:
More kids than ever hold the pencil though with three fingers and thumb, called a quadrupod grasp. Or, a thumb wrap where they wrap their thumb around the front of the pencil to stabilize it. These incorrect pencil grasps and a variety of others often make for sloppy or poor handwriting, which you can see in these examples:
Notice the difference between the tripod grasp and the others, you can almost see the hand seems more cramped up.
However, some kids have handwriting that is just fine despite using these other grasps. That means that a pencil grip for a child is necessary if they aren’t holding the pencil in the tripod position AND their handwriting is suffering.
Why Do Some Kids Have a Poor Pencil Grasp?
Many kids struggle with their pencil grasp and handwriting. The causes are all related to fine motor weakness and/or coordination which may be caused by a developmental delay, sensory processing difficulties, low muscle tone, neurological disorders like Autism, and prematurity.
If a child is struggling with handwriting, it’s likely because of their grasp or how hard or light they’re pushing on the writing utensil.
Using the best pencil grip for a child can help, but if there’s still underlying difficulties with grip strength, hand fatigue, and/or correct letter formation the pencil grip will only frustrate your child in the long run and not address the root of the problem. More on how to do that later.
What Age to Use Pencil Grips for Kids?
It’s important to know what to expect of pencil grasp development in younger children. While pencil grips for toddlers is a popular Google search, it’s not until 3 that we start to see kids using a static tripod grasp, which means their 2 fingers and thumb are in position, but they hold them in a still or static position.
It’s also appropriate to not develop this grasp until the age of 4. However, if your child is three and they aren’t even using their 4 fingers, a pencil grasp might be helpful.
At 5-6 years of age is where we look for a dynamic tripod grasp. See this helpful grasp development chart from Growing Hands on Kids as a reference.
Of course, older children and even adults may still need or benefit from pencil grips to help them learn to hold their pen or pencil correctly and improve their handwriting.
In short, younger children, some preschoolers, through adults may use or need these pencil grips.
7 Best Pencil Grips for Kid’s Handwriting
Using a pencil grip for a child’s pencil grasp will support or place their fingers in the tripod grasp while keeping the fourth and little finger out of the way.
Also, most kids will do better with a traditional pencil, but in some cases, mechanical pencils may be beneficial. If your child is using other writing utensils, the pencil grips below can also function as a pen grip!
I’ve personally used most of these pencil grips with past kids on my occupational therapy caseload and/or my own kids. If you have any questions about your child, ask us in the comments below the post.
Pencil Grip for Kids #1: The Classic Triangle
This is the old school pencil grip that still can get the job done. Super affordable and great to have on hand, the three sides of this pencil grip help kids feel where to place their first and second fingers, as well as their thumb.
Pencil Grip for Kids #2: MLife Finger Hole
This may be my favorite pencil grip for kids, and the Amazon reviews would agree. A lot of times kids figure out a work around to their pencil grip so they can hold the pencil in a way that’s comfortable, but that defeats the purpose.
This grip makes it hard to do that because they have to slide their pointer and middle fingers into the slots. Then there’s a groove on the back of the grip let the thumb rest!
Pencil Grip for Kids #3: Ergonomic Grip for Lefties and Righties
This uniquely designed pencil grip is perhaps the most comfortable to use and has special versions for left-handed or right-handed kids. The deep grooves create natural resting places for the tripod grasp.
Pencil Grip for Kids #4: Mr. Owl
Besides being a fun way to motivate kids to use a pencil grip, the little loop in the back of this pencil grip for kids is helpful for kids that can’t keep their thumb in place. It’s also a sort of incognito pencil grip, looking like a cute bobble on a child’s pencil, if they’re self conscious about using a pencil grip.
Pencil Grip for Kids #5: 5 Fingers
If your child can’t help but get their 4th and 5th fingers involved in holding the pencil, this grip might be for them. While also having slots to put the index and middle fingers in, and the thumb loop, it also has an indented hook at the bottom that the last two fingers can hold on too.
Pencil Grip for Kids #6: Spiky
These spikey pencil grips in different colors could be helpful for kids with sensory “issues” that like the touch a lot of textures or have low awareness of where their hand is on the pencil. These also look like a fun accessory and can be stacked on pencils!
Pencil Grip for Kids #7: Weighted
Some kids apply too soft a pressure when writing and a weighted pencil grip can help them feel the pencil better and write harder. Also, some kids need the weight to help keep their letter formation steady. Depending on your child’s handwriting difficulties, this can be slid to the end of the pencil as well.
For all of the pencil grips above, except #5, some kids will need to hold a penny or a pom pom in their last two fingers to resist the urge to have them “help” hold the pencil.
Does Your Child Have a Fine Motor Weakness?
If your child has difficulty with their fine motor skills, it’s important to address the weakness, processing, or coordination challenges. Schools provide occupational therapy evaluations for handwriting and you can also seek out private OT through your doctor or in many cases, self refer.
Check with your doctor, in the mean time, check out our post on fine motor activities for handwriting.
And, think about having your child pick up small objects like coins, beads, game board pieces. Encouraging them to write on vertical surfaces like a chalkboard or a piece of paper taped to the wall can also be helpful. Also, using very short pencils or crayons if they try to wrap their whole hand around the writing utensil.
If you’re new here and want to keep the good info coming, grab our 25 Powerful Sensory Activities to Calm and Focus Your Child
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More on Handwriting for Kids
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16 Fun & Easy Core Exercises for Kids
Hey OT’s and PT’s: Why you need to test for Retained Primitive Reflexes
Must-Know Executive Functioning Skills by Age & Activities To Improve It in Your Child
Alisha Grogan is a licensed occupational therapist and founder of Your Kid’s Table. She has over 18 years experience with expertise in sensory processing and feeding development in babies, toddlers, and children. Alisha also has 3 boys of her own at home. Learn more about her here.
While the dynamic tripod grasp is the golden standard, quadropod and thumb wrap grasps are considered functional grasps and it would be a waste of time in my professional opinion to “fix” these grasps. I challenge you to watch 100 random adults write and you’ll find that the majority are not using a tripod grasp despite perfectly functional legibility; I myself write with a quadropod grasp with a thumb wrap. In fact, the most recent research is showing that handwriting legibility is not actually linked to the pencil grasp at all. In my setting, the only grasps I focus on are the truly inefficient grasps (cylindrical, digital pronate grasps, 5-finger grasps, etc) because these will impact endurance, speed and efficiency.
Hi Andrea,
Thanks for the comment, and you make some good points, especially in that legibility is not necessarily linked to grasp. One thing as OTs we like to look at is why a child holds a pencil in an “incorrect” way, many times linked to upper body and core strength, retained reflexes, etc. So it can be an indicator of more going on under the surface.
Best,
Laura
Your Kid’s Table team member
I love this article!!! I love the MLife finger grip and Mr. Owl. I am a firm believer in finger grips for our kiddos!
Hi Micki,
We are glad to hear it! They make all the difference for some kids.
Best,
Laura
Your Kid’s Table team member
Is it possible to buy a pack of mixed pencil grips to find the one that suits a child best?
Hi Christine! Thanks for reaching out! It looks like Amazon does have some variety pack listings for these pencil grips 🙂
Best,
Kalyn
*GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED*
Sheri and Kate are the winners, we will be reaching out via email! Congrats!
I’m excited to try the 5 finger for a few kids and spiky for all my sensory seekers!
Awesome!!
I think the triangle one or Mhole grip would help my oldest. He definitely has some fine motor delays and I think these would be perfect for him! Thanks for the suggestions!
That’s great! Glad to hear you found this post helpful!
Best,
Kalyn
We have used several of these with kids. I think #5 would be a good one to try with some that don’t like the others.
#3 and #4 intrigue me! For the comfort factor and the fun factor for my two girls!
I’d like to try #5.
Number 2 and 3 are my favourites. Such a helpful post – my daughter is 4 and although mostly using the tripod grasp, she often needs reminding to hold her pencil right. Intriguingly, she seems to struggle with finding the right spot to hold the pencil – not too close to the tip and not too far either – so the grip will definitely help to address this. Why did I never really think about it before?? Thank you for another great post, I think you are all genius!!
We’ll be trying ergonomic and spiky for my girls! Great article!
Awesome! So glad you liked this post!
Best,
Kalyn
This is so sweet! So glad you enjoyed this post and got some helpful tips from it 🙂
Best,
Kalyn
I’m going to try spiky. I also want to Thank you for making the rise program. IT helped me so much understand my child and how to help him.
Yay! So glad to hear you enjoyed the program and that it helped you and your family 🙂
Best,
Kalyn
Number 5 would be interesting to try with my kiddo!
We’ve tried a pencil grip like the Mlife grip on this post, as recommended by my son’s kindergarten teacher, for use at home, but we stopped using it because he couldn’t figure out which of the 3 finger cups to put which fingers into. We’ll have to try the Mlife grip. The spiky grip might help with sensory although maybe not with proper finger placement.
I’ve never seen the 5 fingers one! I would love to try that one.
I have no idea which one would be best for my grandson. He is almost 4 and holds his pencils and crayons etc like an 18 month old. You know like he wraps his whole hand around the item.
I would love to try the owl or the 5 finger grip. I often have kids hold something small with their 2 fingers to train tucking them in.
I do like the Mlife grip and use it often!
The spiky one would be a winner here!
Thank you for posting this! My daughter started kindergarten and as an speech therapist, I am very aware of her OT and PT skills and have watched her writing and wondered about pencil grips. The owl one is adorable and I agree it will be motivating to her. I can see a puppet show happening with those too 😊
Oh that would be so fun and cute! Thanks for sharing 🙂
Best,
Kalyn
I’m really intrigued by #5. I can see how that would be helpful to occupy the 4th and 5th digits.
I love the designs with the bar to hold as well as the finger placement. I often get children to grip a pompom with their remaining fingers but having it all built into one design is so much better.
The spiky grip or the 5 fingers would be awesome in my house.
We’ve been working with an OT in school to apply greater pressure when using writing implements, but we’ve never heard about weighted pencil grips! What an amazing notion; would really love to give that a try, see if it makes any difference!
What a great reminder about weighted pencil grips for those who may grasp the pencil with excessive force but struggle to mark their papers! I’m also curious to try the Spiky one as I have lot of seekers in my clinic who gravitate towards those textures in toys. Perhaps it would be a motivator to try more fine motor activities!
I’m thinking my kid would like the spikey one. I’ve been on the lookout for a variety pack so that we could try all the best kinds and then buy the one that is best for him.
I would like to try several of these but am really interested in the 5 finger grip
I’m interested in trying the MLife finger hole pencil grip. It looks like it will help the child learn how to position their fingers for accurate pencil grip.
My kids are only 5, and looking at the grasp development chart they are on the path toward using a dynamic tripod grasp, so I am not sure I will get them any pencil grips yet. Right now they do a little bit of writing, but they mostly draw with colored pencils. If I got them a grip I think I would show the the options and see which one appeals to each of them the most. I have found that when I try to get them something I think will help them sensory processing wise, they are WAY more likely to try it if it has a color or character that appeals to them. I an guessing my daughter would want to try the Mr Owl, but my son is harder to predict =).
Pencil grip and handwriting has deteriorated so much over the last 30 years!!! As an “old” (retired) OT, I am amazed how technology and less attention being paid to handwriting is affecting hand skills today. I am volunteering in our local schools and offering to teachers to “teach” a lesson about posture, pencil grip and handwriting. Then I am able to pop back into classes to suggest pencil grips and other classroom appropriate modifications if the teacher is willing. Just a little attempt to fill a hole! 🙂
I actually need to replenish my supply with all of these grips!!!
I have seen many of these pencil grips before but #5 is new to me. I think they would work well for some of my special needs students.
I just found a package of ergonomic grip for lefties and righties just in time for a brick and mortar visit! I really like the feel and positioning of that grip. I am also interested in the weighted pencil grip – I have 2 students in mind to try those out with already! I am an OT.
I just bought the Mr. Owl grips and cannot wait to try them out!
I have never seen this gripper ZZWS Ergonomic 5 Fingers Pencil :Grippers Posture Correction. I am so excited to order and try it. Thanks for putting this email together–it was very helpful!
I would love to try the weighted pencil grip!
I have used all these grips. My favorite ones are the ones like the owl, the spiky ones (for my sensory kiddos) , I have used the weighted ones for my students that need more input as well and write light.
Put a little grip into writing might help a student become a better achiever!
I am an therapist.
I definitely think a pencil would be great for my 4 yr old the spikey one. And for my oldest the weighted one writes light. Thx for this helpful article.
Thanks for all the great info! As an OT, I try to stay away from grips unless truly warranted, but I have so many teachers who just want a quick fix or give grips to students that are completely inappropriate.
My two boys are starting a university model school this year, entering K and 1st. One of them has had fine motor delays due to sensory issues, and I see him using too much pressure and having erratic handwriting. I know the MLife and the Spiky ones would be great additions to our home study days, and class days!
These all look great! I’ve generally found that it’s nice to have a few different ones around and have the student trial them to get the best buy-in.
My favorite is the #2 gripper, but I would love to try the owl grip! So cute!
Pencil Grip Five Fingers would look great in our classroom – a real help for supporting writing skills (!)
I was just looking at the squishy spike one online wondering if it would be a good tool for my OT students. Love the feedback!
Will certainly try the 5 finger grip! Tha k you so much did not know this one existed!!
I am an OT and have tried a good variety of these – still find they are a hit and miss but love the suggestions at the end with using small crayons/pencils and working on vertical surfaces.
Thanks for all this great info! I’m a peds OT, and I feel the spiky grip would definitely benefit a good amount of my caseload. I can imagine it being very motivating for my sensory seeking kiddos- especially the students who have little to no interest in paper/pencil tasks.
Thanks for this concise list and the descriptions! Very helpful! I would love to try the 5 finger grasp.
Great info on the various grips. I have had the best success with #3 ergonomic for both lefties and righties and the triangular grip. Some kids really like and benefit from the weighted one. The spiky one hasn’t been a big hit… the kids like it but it’s a bit bulky for their grasp and they remove it. I really like the Handi helper too( it has a wrist band and a charm to hold with the 4th and 5th fingers.
So cute. I think my son would love the spiked one 😝
I have been searching for grips for my 9 yo to help with proper form and handwriting. And also for my 4 yo, as he likes to grab markers ans pencils with his whole fist. They are impossible to find in stores. I grew up with the triangle style, but bave never seen the other options! I am very intrigued. I didn’t know which styles would be best to get for each of my boys, so this helps a ton. I think i would start off very simple with my 4yo, as his hands are smaller. Withh my 9 yo I think it would come down to the least obvious for school use. But legibility of handwriting must improve.
Mr. Owl is super cute! My kids would both love that one!
I’ve used all of these pencil grips! The hardware store is great for weighted pencil supplies. I’d like to try Mr. Owl with some of my kiddos this year.
Thank you Alisha for the refresher of grip types. I did not know about the owl or the 5 finger grip. I learned something new today! One more thing to add to my treasure box of supports I can give to teachers and students.
I love all of these pencil grips! Kids are motivated to use most of them. The weighted combined with putting the paper on a slanted surface (binder turned landscape) is my favorite
I would love to try the 5 finger grip one! I always have my kids try to hold little objects in their hand but There’s lots of dropping and then reminding them to try again and hold tight! Thank you for sharing!
As a school based OT, I usually start with a pom pom or penny in the hand first before going to grips. My favorite grip is the MLife. This tends to be my go to for finger placement.
I would love to use the weights and the owl grips with my students. I find the weights to be very beneficial!
Great breakdown! As an OT, I have used a few of these with students in my caseload, but I have not tried the 5 Finger or Owl and would love to have these in my toolbox!
As a school based occupational therapist I see a lot of odd grasp patterns. I often prefer to try other methods such as a small coin or object in the palm first. However, I have purchased these and other grips. They definitely have their place. The weighted pencils are very helpful.
Thanks for such a helpful breakdown of these. I too have used a couple of these with my autistic daughter but her favorite is the mlife finger holes type. We also added weights to the pencil, a diy we found on Pinterest. Lastly, I had her take piano lessons to work on her fine motor skills and just doing that activity has helped tremendously with her applying adequate pressure to write.
Fantastic hints! As a school occupational therapist, I prefer to first try the method you’ve also mentioned of hiding a small object such as a pompom or a small “treasure” against the palm and the last 3 fingers of the hand holding the writing tool. I’ve found best success with improving handwriting and grasp when combining this method and hand/arm strengthening tasks.
These are great ideas and I will definitely get one for my son!
I have never tried to spikey grips with my kiddos before! Would love to try those out. The owls are adorable!!!!
I admit I never considered pencil grips for either of my children. After reading this article I am excited to try the five fingers along with the ergonomic grip for my toddler who seems to be much more comfortable writing with her left hand. Thanks for the helpful information!
Great info! I’m interested in trying the MLife and weighted grip for my son.
I have used several of these with kids on my OT caseload but the Owl and 5 fingers I have not seen and plan on trying soon! Thanks for a great article full of information and simply stated in layman’s terms for anyone to understand. 🙌❤️
Ordered #2 and #3! My son struggles with handwriting and has some other sensory issues. I love that these come in packs, though, because my daughter had gorgeous handwriting, but complains that her hands hurts after awhile! I think these might help her, too!
Great article. I’m going to get an Mlife and a triangle and see which one works better for my son.
Thank you for this! I’m always coming across equipment that might be useful for my son, but it’s often really hard to tell what will really be of use to him so it’s really helpful to have information like this that is really clear and shows the products you mean
I have used a few of these, but the owl is a new one that I think may be worth a try simply because it’s cute! I appreciate the article!
This was very helpful thank you. I think she might like and do well with the owl one. Thank you for the info
Such great info!! I think #2 The MLife Finger Hole would be a great place for me to start with my littles.
This is very helpful, thank you! Buying one for my son.
My son would love the spikey one!
I would like to try the owl one as I have not seen this before. Another personal favorite is the stetro.
Three of my kids use grips and we are always trying new versions. They are autistic with Ehlers Danlos so their hands get tired easily and their joints sublux and dislocate. They like different ones each day. We are going to add the weight, spiky and the 5 fingers to our rotation this year. Thanks for this great article and recommendations!
5, 6 & 7 seem the best for K kids! Thanks
I use the Mr. Owl and the weighted ones for my students. I see the most improvement in handwriting with these specific pencil grips.
This is a great post! I would love the 5,6, and 7. These are great! I’ve never seen the 5 finger one and have some kiddos that would benefit from it. Im an OT starting soon in the school system.
I have seen improvements in handwriting and grasp using the owl and weights!! These are great recommendations!
I think my son would like the spiky pencil grip to give him some extra input.
I think the pencil grip #2 would be best for my 6 year old son. He struggles with tripod grasp. Seems like the grip will give him a very comfortable hold on the pencil.
The weighted pencil grip could be great for my little one. 🤔 She is fascinated with writing on my walls but on paper her writing barely shows.
I like #1 because it’s classic – affordable is always good too… Especially as a teacher! For my own kid, I think I would try #6 because it would help him most with the need to touch / texture. Thank you!
I like both #2 and # 3 because it directs the exact location where the thumb and index finger should be on the pencil. Which makes it easier to write.
I am an Educator.