Hi, I'm Polly Benson, the OT handwriting coach. Today, I'm going to show you how a simple posture setup can make a big difference in how your child writes and how they feel while writing and about writing. It's all about helping kids to sit smart so they can write strong. Let's get started. Sometimes when I see kids struggling with handwriting, it's not because they don't know what to write about, it's because their body isn't supported to do the writing.

You might see them slouching. Leaning their head on the table or even sitting on their feet. That isn't about laziness. It's about the environment not working for their body. Here's what we wanna aim for. Feet flat on the floor or supported, knees and hips at 90 degrees, elbows at 90 degrees, resting comfortably on the table in front of them.

The shoulders should be relaxed and the head looking down naturally at the paper. Not hunched over. So what I'm looking at, if you can get down here, is the knees. Okay. So from here I'm looking for the hip to be 90, which is good. Put your foot out the knee to be 90 and her foot to be ankle at 90.

Okay. We're also looking for like a 90-degree here when she's writing. So, back up again and stand up. Okay, I'm, you sit on that and scooch in. Okay. So, now you're up above the table. We've got more of a 90-degree here. And then for her feet, of course. Take your slips off. You want 'em supported? Oh yeah. Look at that.

You're very, you look very ergonomically, please. The table should be one to two inches below the child's bent elbow when they're seated. A small adjustment like a pillow, a footrest, or a towel can make a big difference in their seating posture. If we wanna build up their seat and we give them a pillow under their bottom, we might need to give them a footrest under their feet in order to get the table at the proper height.

Now, let's talk about paper positioning. For right-handed writers, tilt the paper with the left corner slightly up, and for left-handed writers, tilt the right corner up for writing. Left-handers tend to write downhill, and right-handers tend to write uphill. And don't forget, the non-dominant hand is just as important.

It should gently hold the paper steady and prevent it from moving. Next, we're going to connect posture to pencil grasp. When the body is stable, the hand is free to move. At first, kids might use their shoulder for writing, their elbow for writing or their wrist, but we want them to learn how to properly hold the pencil.

You might see a fisted grasp, or you might see that their thumb is wrapped around their fingers. We want to, when they get developmentally old enough, we want to have a tripod grasp. And this is a functional grasp where all three fingers are holding onto the pencil and have three points of contact. The wrist stays stable.

Okay, so the first thing I wanna do is lay this down the pencil pointing towards your hand, and you're gonna pinch it like that. Okay? You got it. And then we're gonna roll it up into the back of your web space here. Okay, and that's

how you're supposed to hold the pencil. You should have three points of contact, both fingers and that little finger there.

Short tools like mini markers, broken crayons can help promote this naturally. Sometimes we also do recommend pencil grips until the able child is able to hold the pencil correctly, comfortably for longer periods of time. In order to build strength and wrist positioning, try riding on a vertical surface.

You can use chalkboards, easels, whiteboard. You can even use a window, tape up a piece of paper, or use dry erase markers right on the window. Kids love it. It's novel, and it supports their posture too. So remember, posture just isn't about sitting still. It's about sitting strong. When we support the body, we support the brain, the hand and eye coordination.

Even one small change can make writing feel easier, steadier, and less frustrating. Sit smart, write strong, and keep supporting your writers, one posture point at a time.