What would you recommend as a good starter pen for a 4 year old?

[hemmantjha]

What would you recommend as a good starter pen for a 4 year old?

 

My daughter's good at drawing, and uses her pencils / tools with care. She's used my fountain pens a few times, under supervision. Now she wants one of her own - I'm wary of getting her something too nice [it will probably be abused or will be lost at some point], but it should be a good writer.

 

The Lamy ABC comes to mind. http://www.lamyusa.com/abcfntred.html

 

 

Any other contenders out there?

 

 

[niksch]

I've dedicated an MB142 of mine for my daughter, but I help her refill it every time. She also uses a P51 and a Pilot c/c.  I focused on pen and nib size for her since she has small hands, but hopefully she'll prefer piston fillers like her dad does.  She currently uses the pink Pilot pen (Courtesy of talkinghead) and a pink-red MB ink.

 

What would you recommend as a good starter pen for a 4 year old?

 

My daughter's good at drawing, and uses her pencils / tools with care. She's used my fountain pens a few times, under supervision. Now she wants one of her own - I'm wary of getting her something too nice [it will probably be abused or will be lost at some point], but it should be a good writer.

 

The Lamy ABC comes to mind. http://www.lamyusa.com/abcfntred.html

 

 

Any other contenders out there?

[AlexLeGrande]

I just ordered a Pelikano Junior for my 4 year old granddaughter. She loves to write and has a good pen and pencil grip, and likes my fountain pens. It's advertised to be a nice writer able to stand up to some hard use.

 

 

 

 

 

[Ondina]

Pelikan Pelikano

Pelikan Pelikano Junior

Lamy ABC

Lamy Vista

Lamy Safari

Waterman Kultur

Reform Skywalker

Stypen UP

Inoxcrom (Kukumutxu, Agata R. de la Prada...)

 

All great pens for the value. Pelikan has the A nib and the Lamy the MK that are specially suited as starter nibs, but IMHE all the above nibs perform very well.

If you allow a suggestion, well behaved (and washable!!!) inks as well and nice paper (Miquel Ríus, etc) help them a lot. Pelikan Pirate Eradicators are cool for kids and useful for parents!.

[chkuo]

Pelikano Jr works pretty good for my kids. The price is ~$10 (much less than the Lamy ABC) and it comes with either A (regular M) or L (actually a M as well, but the section grip guide is inverted for left-handed writer) nib.

[mr T.]

What would you recommend as a good starter pen for a 4 year old?

 

My daughter's good at drawing, and uses her pencils / tools with care. She's used my fountain pens a few times, under supervision. Now she wants one of her own - I'm wary of getting her something too nice [it will probably be abused or will be lost at some point], but it should be a good writer.

 

The best 'starter pen' for a 4 year old is a wooden pencil. Don't start at that age with fountain pens (and wait until your daughter is 7 or 8 )

Edited April 21, 2009 by mr T.

[rhosygell]

I second that. Crayons are jolly handy too.

[Fountainbass]

I bought a pink Pelikano for my daughter's 4th birthday last year. She enjoys using it from time to time.

[EventHorizon]

I second the motion for the Pelikan Pelikano

[hemmantjha]

Thank you so much for your comments and suggestions - including ones recommending that kids should stick with pencils and crayons....

 

I started to consider a fountain pen simply because she seemed interested in learning to write, and had moved beyond markers. She uses pencils regularly, and watercolors - and really likes the color pink. I felt it would be a good form of encouragement for her to have a pen that she likes, with ink in a suitable shade of pink.

 

I'm also looking at some of the disposable pen out there [by Pilot, Platinum] - does anyone know of more such pens?

 

 

 

[encremental]

Why not have a look at the Pelikan Griffix system, which starts with fine wax, moves through pencil then an ink fibre tipped pen and finally a fountain pen. They have swappable little buttons on the end of each pen, fancy cartridges and, most importantly, all available in P I N K !!

 

I've just bought the fountain pen, and it is a delight to write with - a lovely slightly springy smooth nib, which may well be a Pelikano nib (haven't tried one). A shame there is only one nib size, but it can be L or R.

 

John

[shahrincamille]

Don't listen to advice with regard to children should only stick to pencils and crayons

 

Start them young, when they're still impressionable. It's always good to introduce good habits while they're still young - it'll stick to them for life! :clap1:

 

Here's the incident which introduced my then 4 year old girl to our world - I know I might bore some of you having repeated this story many times here - but now she's the proud owner of a red Lamy ABC powered by Diamine's Cerise pink ink (pink is her favorite color), a possession she seems to treasure very much unlike mot of hr other stuff. And every time I take out my nitrocellulose pens from storage in order to 'air' them, she will remind me of that Van Gogh Laguna Verde that I promised to gift her on her graduation much later in life. And the best part is... earlier in the year I had met the principal of my daughter's preschool, and she told me that my daughter's handwriting had to be the best in the entire school. As a proud father I was of course elated and happy

 

 

Shahrin

[mr T.]

Start them young, when they're still impressionable. It's always good to introduce good habits while they're still young - it'll stick to them for life!

 

A 4 year old is not able to write with a fountain pen. That is why it's better to start with fountain pens later (at the age of 7 or 8). This has to do with the development of the coordination between eyes and hand, the development of spatial orientation and also with the development of reading skills. A 4 year old child isn't able to control his/hers movements enough for using a fountain pen. That is why it's better to start with wooden pencils. It doesn't make sense to let them use fountain pens before the age of 7 because they can't use them properly. It will only discourage them using fountain pens in later life.

[Silvermink]

It doesn't make sense to let them use fountain pens before the age of 7 because they can't use them properly. It will only discourage them using fountain pens in later life.

 

I'd say Shahrin's daughter is a pretty good counterexample.

[Gehaha]

Start them young, when they're still impressionable. It's always good to introduce good habits while they're still young - it'll stick to them for life!

 

A 4 year old is not able to write with a fountain pen. That is why it's better to start with fountain pens later (at the age of 7 or 8). This has to do with the development of the coordination between eyes and hand, the development of spatial orientation and also with the development of reading skills. A 4 year old child isn't able to control his/hers movements enough for using a fountain pen. That is why it's better to start with wooden pencils. It doesn't make sense to let them use fountain pens before the age of 7 because they can't use them properly. It will only discourage them using fountain pens in later life.

 

Dear Mr.T

Don't knock your head to the wall :bonk: - leave it to the parents.

Sigh.

It's modern nowadays to overchallenge the kids mentally.

Playing, drawing, singing and dancing are supposed to be too childish for the sake

of future achievers...

They should learn foreign languages, programming PC's, reading and writing in kindergarden...

Why not a fountain pen? Or in USA a little Winchester for trial? (BLACK HUMOR - NO OFFENSE MENT!)

 

Excuse me if I seem to sound bitter - but for my belief the protected "KINGDOM OF CHILDHOOD" should stay untouched.

 

3 - 6 year olds should stick with social learning, body development, becoming firm in their main language, learning to cope with frustration, limitations.

Should learn how to express and regulate (verbalize) feelings, esp. aggression, fear and pain. They need storytelling and fairytales and should play, play,play.

If a young child shows early interest for pens (because it observes the significant adults using them all the time) enforce it how to draw, how to hold a childfriendly

(thick) pencil or crayon in a proper way. Try to find out, which is the leading hand and so on. Enough to learn for the little ones at that age...

 

The "higher cultural techniques" like reading and writing should start with a well balanced body and soul (mind). The child should be able to balance emotions , should be able to sit for a while (even under stress) and should feel socially included and secure.

 

In non-scientific words: a kid, ready to read and write must be well balanced (integrated): body/brain first, emotion/brain second, brain/brain last!

We have a huge amount of immature kids sitting around in our schools with premature reading and writing abilities, but overwhelmed by the task to sit and listen 45 minutes.

(O dear, must be ADHS... ...bitter again.)

 

And again : NO OFFENSE MENT.

 

But please, dear parents, leave the fountainpens in YOUR drawer.

 

Hopeless regards,

Anna

[hemmantjha]

Start them young, when they're still impressionable. It's always good to introduce good habits while they're still young - it'll stick to them for life!

 

A 4 year old is not able to write with a fountain pen. That is why it's better to start with fountain pens later (at the age of 7 or 8). This has to do with the development of the coordination between eyes and hand, the development of spatial orientation and also with the development of reading skills. A 4 year old child isn't able to control his/hers movements enough for using a fountain pen. That is why it's better to start with wooden pencils. It doesn't make sense to let them use fountain pens before the age of 7 because they can't use them properly. It will only discourage them using fountain pens in later life.

 

Dear Mr.T

Don't knock your head to the wall :bonk: - leave it to the parents.

Sigh.

It's modern nowadays to overchallenge the kids mentally.

Playing, drawing, singing and dancing are supposed to be too childish for the sake

of future achievers...

They should learn foreign languages, programming PC's, reading and writing in kindergarden...

Why not a fountain pen? Or in USA a little Winchester for trial? (BLACK HUMOR - NO OFFENSE MENT!)

 

Excuse me if I seem to sound bitter - but for my belief the protected "KINGDOM OF CHILDHOOD" should stay untouched.

 

3 - 6 year olds should stick with social learning, body development, becoming firm in their main language, learning to cope with frustration, limitations.

Should learn how to express and regulate (verbalize) feelings, esp. aggression, fear and pain. They need storytelling and fairytales and should play, play,play.

If a young child shows early interest for pens (because it observes the significant adults using them all the time) enforce it how to draw, how to hold a childfriendly

(thick) pencil or crayon in a proper way. Try to find out, which is the leading hand and so on. Enough to learn for the little ones at that age...

 

The "higher cultural techniques" like reading and writing should start with a well balanced body and soul (mind). The child should be able to balance emotions , should be able to sit for a while (even under stress) and should feel socially included and secure.

 

In non-scientific words: a kid, ready to read and write must be well balanced (integrated): body/brain first, emotion/brain second, brain/brain last!

We have a huge amount of immature kids sitting around in our schools with premature reading and writing abilities, but overwhelmed by the task to sit and listen 45 minutes.

(O dear, must be ADHS... ...bitter again.)

 

And again : NO OFFENSE MENT.

 

But please, dear parents, leave the fountainpens in YOUR drawer.

 

Hopeless regards,

Anna

 

 

hello Anna and Mr.T,

 

I think what you suggest is absolutely valid - children should be allowed to play and run around and learn to socialize and be great little people, having a wonderful time growing up. In modern parenting, there is, perhaps, too much emphasis on multiple activities crammed into tight schedules - not a fun way to be a child.

 

As for the pen itself, it is small and plastic [as most suggestions in this post show], about as cheap as a marker, and filled with pink ink - not a tool with serious pretensions. At most, the kid will use it to scrawl their name on a birthday card - mostly in unreadable text. My intention is not to turn my daughter into a serious scholar at this age or to stifle her creativity and freedom, but to offer her a new and fun toy for her toybox.

 

Why may a fountain pen not be treated as a marker or a sharpened color pencil? Is it inherently a grown-up toy?

 

I think this discussion is shaping up quite well - a bit out of the scope of what I expected, which is great.

 

best regards,

 

hemmant

 

 

 

 

[Anne-Sophie]

I used fountain pens at school as early as I could. Beats Bics everytime.

We were not supposed to use them until 5th grade (10) but I used mine regularly in 4th grade (9) and started using it at home in 3rd grade (8).

 

The mandatory yellow bics gave me hand cramps like there was no tomorrow. Unbearable.

 

I even sneaked a fat novelty multicolor ballpoint to school but it was almost confiscated so I brought back home.

Later, I bought one of those 4 color bic pen and used a bic clickster both of them were fatter than the horrible yellow ones and as it was a bic, I showed the logo to the teachers so they would let me use those pens.

I think the corporation might have given them donations.

 

 

I used dip pens for fun, at home, at a really early age, under very strict supervision. (4-5-6 years of age)

So I knew the difference between a writing stick and a writing implement; dip pens, lead pencils, color pencils, markers and fountain pens were always much better.

 

 

Furthermore, some children have advanced motor skills that do not correspond to the norm.

Others have a curiosity about things that involve handling a fountain pen, a telescope, a microscope, binoculars, camera...

Those can be extremely expensive but if a child has a curiosity about them, there are now available in children size and childproof material, so there is a market for higher end implement for children.

 

I feel it is as detrimental to a child to say "you are too little to use that" than "your schedule isn't as busy as x person".

We are all individuals.

[ZeissIkon]

I'm not a parent, but I've been around kids -- and despite four intervening decades, I remember being one. They know more, and are capable of more, than we sometimes give them credit for. I well remember I more or less taught myself to read at age four, in a time when most kids still didn't even know their letters when starting school at six (things are a little different now, true enough).

 

Given, first, that you can get fountain pens that, with at most very minor nib tuning accessible to almost anyone, will write very well, for well under $5 plus shipping, and that there are inks available that are completely washable, I don't see any reason for a child old enough to handle a pointed pencil not to have access to a fountain pen if he/she expresses a desire for one. A Platinum Preppy is smaller than the fat pencils they used to teach children with when I was starting (1960s), not much if any fatter than a common wood pencil, has a price tag of $2 where I last looked at them, and though it uses a proprietary cartridge, the cartridges can be filled from a bottle or the pen converted to eyedropper (though a child can refill his/her own pen using the Platinum cartridges). What's a wood pencil cost these days?

 

As for kids not being able to control their bodies well enough to use pens, that's just nonsense. It varies from one child to another, like everything else. There will always be some kids who can't avoid stabbing the nib into their pad, at 16, and others who develop beautiful handwriting because they enjoy using a good instrument, and so practice -- starting in kindergarten.

 

I'd certainly think it reasonable for someone like Shahrin's daughter to have a rule that the good pen not leave the house, but have a Preppy, Kaweco Sport, or similar under-$10 pen to take to school; put the same ink in both, and the teacher need not know that the child uses a $150 pen at home...

[Fernan]

I also believe kids should be kids, and let's let them be kids.

 

The work of children is to play. They learn through observation. But I don't believe that just because they show an interest in something, that adults should automatically give them what they want.

[AmA]

I'm not a parent, but I've been around kids -- and despite four intervening decades, I remember being one. They know more, and are capable of more, than we sometimes give them credit for. I well remember I more or less taught myself to read at age four, in a time when most kids still didn't even know their letters when starting school at six (things are a little different now, true enough).

 

Same here - I was driven crazy at primary school once by a supply teacher who refused to believe I had already read a book that she'd set, despite being able to answer questions on it and so on. I can't remember when I started using a fountain pen, though. Under 10, I think, but not sure...