Tiny hands, big challenges
Physical Readiness for School: The Importance of Hand and Wrist Development
Developing the fundamental physical and motor skills needed for writing is not just about preparing a child for school — it lays the foundation for their overall learning journey. Proper early development ensures that writing becomes a source of confidence and creativity, rather than frustration and struggle. Taking the time to support this natural growth process can have a profound impact, far beyond the early school years.
When a child is preparing to start school, there are numerous expectations they need to meet to ensure a successful beginning. Among these is having appropriate physical development, which typically includes monitoring weight, height, potential spinal issues like scoliosis, flat feet, and, in better cases, muscle tone.
However, there is one aspect that is unfortunately rarely mentioned—an aspect crucial not only for writing: the development of the hand and wrist.
The Prerequisites for Writing
For a young child to successfully learn how to write, the quality of their speech comprehension and speech production is vital. In addition, they need to have an established hand, foot, and eye dominance, well-coordinated eye-hand coordination, properly functioning auditory and visual perception, accurate spatial and planar orientation, and harmonious motor coordination.
Proper Pencil Grip
We often hear that a proper pencil grip is essential for writing, but it is less commonly discussed that this requires anatomically well-developed hand and wrist bones—something that at six years old is still not fully ready for writing. Like all aspects of development, this too follows its own stages.
At around 1.5 to 2 years of age, children grasp crayons or pencils with their whole hand, and while the index finger already plays a guiding role, the shoulders still move together. This is followed by a three-finger grip by around 26 months, and by the age of 5, the thumb and index finger gradually take over the control of pencil movements. By around 6.5 to 7 years old, children begin to be capable of guiding their writing or drawing movements primarily with their index finger.
The following picture shows the hand of a 3-, 8-, and 15-year-old. It clearly illustrates that even by the age of 8, especially in the wrist bones, significant time is still needed for complete ossification.
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Why Forcing Early Writing Can Backfire: Physical Readiness and the Importance of Play
The age of six is already a challenging period for children, as it marks their first major physical transformation. The proportions of the head, torso, and limbs shift. The natural spinal curves develop, the shoulders broaden, and the skeletal system, including the wrist and finger bones, is still in the process of ossification. In fact, the ossification of the wrist and finger joints only completes around the ages of 12–13.
What Happens When We Force Writing Too Early?
If a six-year-old child with an underdeveloped physique is expected to sit at a desk and write with a thin pencil, it can lead to a host of problems.
An observer watching a child write might notice that, due to weak core muscles, the child tries to write using their entire body—twisting their torso and head. Because of motor weakness, the child might wrap their legs tightly around the chair legs for stability or even lean heavily onto the desk.
This is problematic because it disrupts the child's internal sense of their body's midline, which should naturally be crossed repeatedly by their eyes and/or hands during reading and writing activities.
With an underdeveloped hand, the child struggles—or is simply unable—to separate the movements of their pinky and ring fingers from writing movements. As a result, they grip the pencil tightly, leading to an incorrect posture. Over time, muscular imbalances may form, potentially causing scoliosis.
The child must mobilize immense energy to compensate for these immature functions. They tend to press the pencil down hard, leading to quick fatigue and a loss of interest—not only in writing but also in activities they may have previously loved, like drawing.
The final result? Poorer quantity and quality: illegible handwriting, inconsistent letter sizes, fragmented sentences—and the list goes on.
The Importance of Pre-Writing Preparation
A child will only be able to write easily if their body and functional skills are properly prepared for it. General physical strength must be built up, and from an early age, children should engage in activities that naturally encourage the ossification and development of the hand and wrist.
As with everything, forcing things too early is never a good idea.
With mindful preparation, we can do a lot—not only to strengthen the muscles needed for writing but also to prevent the negative consequences of starting too soon.
We need to gently guide little hands so that writing and drawing at school become sources of joy, not frustration. Involving specialists can help develop gross motor skills, fine motor skills, proprioceptive awareness, dominance establishment, and conscious midline crossing.
How Can Parents Support Pre-Writing Skills?
Instead of letting children passively use phones or remote controls, involve them in everyday tasks that encourage kneading, pinching, or gripping movements using the thumb, index, and middle fingers. This could include baking, cooking, or helping with laundry.
In addition to these hand movements, it's important to use a variety of textures to stimulate tactile senses—an essential component of writing readiness.
Let children play in sand, shape clay, knead dough, sort small seeds, build with Legos, work on puzzles, or pick up tiny paper pieces from the carpet.
Let them dress and undress dolls: buttoning, zipping, fastening Velcro.
They should experience what it's like to draw lines in dirt with a stick, or with a finger in sand, flour, or salt.
As they become more skillful, they can move on to drawing with thick chalk across large surfaces—not just tiny pieces of paper.
The floor or a large sheet of packing paper taped to the wall is perfect for this.
There is no need to force them to hold the chalk or thick pencil a "certain" way. They will instinctively adjust, and observing how parents or siblings hold writing tools will naturally guide them.
Using a thin pencil before the age of five is not recommended, as it places uneven strain on the still-developing hands.
Children should be allowed to develop at their own natural pace without unnecessary stress or pressure.
Trying to speed up the biological process is not only ineffective—it's impossible.
After all, we can't magically accelerate bone growth like in Harry Potter.
The effects of an unprepared or strained start in writing can reach far into adulthood. Poor handwriting, persistent difficulties with fine motor tasks, posture problems, and even academic or professional insecurities can often be traced back to insufficient early support. By paying attention to the physical, emotional, and neurological needs of young children, we not only help them thrive at school, but also empower them to grow into confident, resilient adults.
Investing in early development is investing in a lifetime of learning, self-expression, and well-being.
Sometimes Professional Support is Needed
Despite all the best efforts of parents, there are times when the involvement of a specialist becomes necessary.
In my movement development sessions, in addition to strengthening the foundational skills needed for learning, I place great emphasis on building overall physical strength and endurance—not just physically, but emotionally as well.
If you are feeling uncertain, have further questions, or would like some assistance, you can reach me through one of the contact options listed below:
Nóra Török e-mail: movingisyourgrowing@gmailcom Tel.: +36304820428
References:
Mosby Elsevier: Hand function in the child: Foundations for remediation, 2006 by Mosby Inc
The Physical Developmental Needs of Young Children ed.by Rebecca Duncombe, 2019, Routledge, New York