Question
What is the grip progression in children?
Answer
There is grip progression over time, as noted in Figure 1.
Starting at one to one and a half years, we see a cylindrical grasp or a palmer-type grasp. At two to three years, they move to a pronated grasp. At three and a half it moves to a modified tripod grasp. This looks very different in individuals, but many times, you will see an all finger or a four finger grasp. Finally, around four and a half to seven years, as they are getting into the school, we see more of a tripod grasp, as the intrinsic muscles tend to strengthen. Even though this is my child and an "OT" kid, he still wants to stabilize a little bit with his middle digit. It is still a functional grasp.
Continued and its subsidiaries provide professional education authored by qualified Subject Matter Experts for continuing education purposes. These materials are intended for educational purposes and do not constitute medical advice or a substitute for individual clinical judgment. Continued is not a clinical healthcare provider; the licensed professional is solely responsible for ensuring that the application of any techniques or information presented is within their legal scope of practice and jurisdictional requirements.
