Motor skills
Tripod Grasp
Also called: tripod grip, pencil grip, three-finger grip
The tripod grasp is the mature pencil grip in which the pencil rests against the middle finger and is controlled by the thumb and index finger, leaving the wrist free to move.
It is the endpoint of a sequence, not a starting position. Children typically move from a fisted grip (around age two), through a digital pronate grip with the whole hand, to a four-finger grip, and finally to the tripod at around age five or six.
Forcing the tripod before a child's hand is ready is counterproductive: the grip depends on wrist stability and finger separation the child may not yet have. Grip aids and triangular pencils can help, but so does simply building the underlying strength with scissors and playdough.