pencils

Teaching Kids to Write
Music and Books For Kids

Texts and Tunes: How to Hold a Pencil

Before putting a pencil in your lil one's hand, take a look at how you hold your own.
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Before putting a pencil in your lil one's hand, take a look at how you hold your own. Do you hold it too close to the tip, or too far up the top? Perfecting the "tripod grip" requires some practice and if not taught properly, it affects lil ones' writing abilities.

Megan Hirsch's How to Hold a Pencil ($8) is a visual guide to teaching tots the proper writing utensil technique. Packed with large photos and simple instructions, writing newbies will quickly learn to pinch their pencil and then support it with another finger. Diagrammed images show both correct and incorrect form, giving kids models to copy as they perfect their own grip. In a world where tykes are learning to type before they write, it's nice to know that your child will at least know how to hold their pencil when their technology fails them.

Simple or Swank: Wooden Colored Pencils
arts and crafts

Simple or Swank: Wooden Colored Pencils

I've learned simple arts and crafts projects can delight my children more than any fancy toys or videos.
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I've learned simple arts and crafts projects can delight my children more than any fancy toys or videos. Color pencils are a superb tool for aspiring artists who have graduated from crayon use, but haven't started reading and writing yet. They are sturdy and allow lil ones to get used to the feeling of holding a pencil or pen for future handwriting, but will help create pretty pictures.

Simple: Derwent Studio Colored Pencils ($36 for 36) are an inexpensive alternative to the chunky set. The art supply staples will allow your tots to experiment with color without you worrying about them losing a pencil.
Swank: Twig Crayons ($150 for 60) were once featured in Vogue, but they are a bit pricey for art time unless your little one is a mini René Magritte. Despite their name, they are in fact, very fancy colored pencils.