It’s Cyber Monday! To celebrate and help parents, caregivers and family members with Christmas Shopping we will be posting some of favourite toys, games, books and equipment that we use and love at OuTcomes Therapy. Our chosen items are not only fun and engaging but they also invite skill development. A win-win for all!
Within the educational system, school-based occupational therapists are frequently asked to assess pencil grips and to provide ideas and strategies to develop an efficient three-fingered grasp. This has lead to the development of a number of commercially available and sometimes expensive pencil grips for students.
The great news is that there are a number of hacks that can have similar benefits. Two hacks that we especially like are using binder clips to teach how to hold a pencil and use of mechanical pencils to ensure that kids know how much pressure to exert on a pencil. A special thank you to Renee Benjamin for the binder grasp picture.
Therefore to make a teacher happy this Christmas, consider placing binder clips – http://amzn.to/2ztAEku – and mechanical pencils – http://amzn.to/2AdZJnv – in his/her stocking!