Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Magic Marker Monday: Fat Crayons

Giving James writing instruments can be fraught with peril. With pens and markers, he wants to decorate his skin and the walls, not use them on paper. Paint winds up everywhere, especially his fingers (and everywhere he can put said painty fingers). Even if I give him a brush.  He has not been able to maintain a good grip on regular pencils and crayons, and tends to break and chew them.

This year, his O/T and aide at school are working on using a pencil grip to improve his fine motor skills. His teacher from last year reminded us that he does much better with fatter pencils and crayons. I managed to find some big crayons that he had not yet broken and set him up with paper and crayon. He went through several sheets, front and back, solemnly drawing Jand j ,,, and his name:

J .... a .... m   (we are still working on the e and s)

I am enjoying this while it lasts. He is asking me to be able to do his "homework". I hope that one day he'll start drawing his own pictures, and tell us all about them!

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2 comments:

Lindy said...

WOW! That "J" looks amazing! Nice work, James!

I've had pencil/pen/crayon grip issues with both my kiddos and it's a challenging thing. Looks like all your hard work and persistence is paying of beautifully though! :)

~Michelle @ 5MFSN

danette said...

Love his J-a-m, that is awesome! Aside from being easier to hold, fat crayons are also a little harder to break ;). How cool that he is asking to do his homework :).

My boys have / had similar issues with fine motor. Bitty does better with fat crayons too, and has been using pencil grips at home and school. Bearhug and Cuddlebug also used a slant-board at school which helps position their hands better for writing (helped with fatigue because it took so much effort their hands would get tired after just a few letters).