New Review! Pencil Grip Kit and Safety Scissors from The Pencil Grip, Inc.

Well, hello there!!! I'm so glad you stopped by! :) I bet you'd like to get my posts delivered right to your inbox, now wouldn't you? So why not sign up for Feedburner? Check it out, it's right there in my sidebar! Thanks!!  :)

About the products: As part of the Homeschool Review Crew, I received The 3 Step Pencil Grip Training Kit and The Ultra Safe Safety Scissors from The Pencil Grip, Inc. so that I could check them out and let you know what I think.  

The pencil grips are small silicone grips that easily slide right onto your pencil or pen. They come in three levels and help you place your fingers in just the right position to get that proper grip. The three levels are:

• The Crossover Grip for Training
• The Pinch Grip for Transitioning
• The Pencil Grip for Graduation!

As you might have guessed, you start with the Crossover Grip and then transition until you are ready for graduation! (Diploma not included. Haha.)

As for the scissors, they are sharper than the usual kiddy scissors, but that isn't an issue because the blade is covered with a plastic safety shield. (I would strongly suggest making sure this shield is intact each time you hand them over to your child.) There is a very narrow area left open where you insert the paper you are going to cut. It's too narrow for even the smallest finger to fit into, so there is almost no chance of your child getting cut. Also, there is a weird little lever (yellow in the photo) which helps a child new to cutting to get used to how scissors work. They seem pretty durable as far as I can tell, but I no longer have a slew of toddlers and preschoolers around to really put them to the test. 

What are the pros of this product? 

Pencil Grip: 

• Inexpensive
• Comfortable 
• Easy to use
• Fits on most standard writing instruments
• Colorful and fun looking!

Safety Scissors:

• Inexpensive
• Easy to use
• Provides a clean cut
• Provides extra safety
• Training lever helps beginners to cut more easily 

What's not to like? 
We had no issues with either product.


The Crazy Mom take: 
Well, first, let me admit that I have a terrible grip and so does my son, Baber, 14. The grips totally forced us to hold our pencils correctly. It definitely does that well, and it's not at all uncomfortable. However, I would say in both of our cases, we are just too old and set in our ways to really want to change. If I could go back in time, I would have loved to have had these when I was first teaching the kids how to write! Since I have a terrible grip, I wasn't the best teacher or role model. I'm not sure any of my kids actually hold their pencils correctly. Of course, in this day and age, they honestly don't use a pen and paper that much anyway. Still, it just makes sense to learn how to do it right from the beginning. 

I would totally recommend these for younger kids, especially beginners, who aren't too set in their ways, or for people who are determined to make a change. (To be honest, I actually have pretty nice handwriting despite my freaky grip, so I'm okay with how I write.)

As far a the scissors, we are pretty much (okay totally) out of that stage, though we somehow still have several pairs of safety scissors floating around here. I mean, with my youngest being 14 it's been a while since I've needed any, though my hope is that it won't be too many years before I have some grandkids who might want to come over and do crafts. :) 

Anyway, I have to admit, these scissors are a bit odd-looking. I'm not really sure how necessary the sharper blade with the extra plastic guard really is. I mean, how precise does a child really need to be? I don't recall ever having an issue with the standard scissors for the type of projects my kids were doing when they were younger. Just because the scissors can be more precise, doesn't mean a toddler or preschooler has the ability to really take advantage of that. Am I right? However, as a child gets older, they do develop more fine motor skills, so I guess it's nice that when they do reach that level and are ready for a sharper, more precise blade, you can still have the safety of the plastic guard.

Basically, when choosing these over regular safety scissors, you gain a sharper blade and more safety, but the tradeoff is that it's a bit trickier to slide the paper into the narrow opening in order to cut it. If I were in the market for scissors I would probably want to have both kinds available and would just use whatever pair best fit the project we were doing. Since they aren't much more expensive than regular scissors, they would be nice to have around. Are they a necessity? No, I don't think so. Are they useful? I would say, in some cases yes. For four dollars, they would be nice to have around and it certainly won't break the bank. If you are looking for both precision and safety, I would gladly recommend these. 

What's the bottom line?
Scissors $4
Pencil Grip Training Kit $8.13

I am going to give the 3 Step Pencil Grip Training Kit and Ultra Safe Safely Scissors 4 out of 5 smileys!!! :) :) :) :)  

Check it out: 

http://www.thepencilgrip.com 

Social Media Links:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thepencilgrip/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/thepencilgrip @thepencilgrip
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/thepencilgrip/


See what my fellow TOS Crew members have to say @

http://schoolhousereviewcrew.com/ultra-safe-safety-scissors-pencil-grip-training-kit-the-pencil-grip-inc-reviews





*The Smiley System:

:) I can't really recommend this product.

:)  :) I doubt this product would be helpful to many people.

:)  :)  :) This is a good product, but it isn't right for everyone.

:)  :)  :)  :) Most homeschool moms will find this useful.

:)  :)  :)  :)  :) This is great, and I would recommend it to anyone!!!