A Fountain Pen: A Gift Idea for Children’s Day

Need Children’s Day gift ideas? This article is for you!

Children’s Day is coming up and there could be many things you wanted to give your child. Perhaps you thought of that new really expensive Marvel toy they’ve been pining over. Or bringing them for a good meal, or a family day out, or any other really wonderful ideas. But have you ever considered giving your child one of the best gifts you can ever buy them – the gift of writing.

All puns intended, this gift of writing comes in the form of a beginner’s fountain pen. There are many options to choose from so let’s break it down here.

Fountain Pens are Good for Children

First questions first, why bother with a fountain pen when you could just use a good ol’ ballpoint pen? Check out that answer here.

But then why give children around ages 9 onwards fountain pens? It might seem a little pricey.

Good Writing Posture

Fountain pens teach kids good writing posture. It helps to train proper grip and will result in lesser hand cramp for writing in the future. Writing for a longer period of time with a fountain pen is much easier than using ball or gel pens.

Better Handwriting and Clarity of Thought

It is not easy to write with a fountain pen and many fountain pen enthusiasts will tell you that it takes years of practice to become at home with a pen. Different pens are different in their character and therefore writing style etc. Writing with a fountain pen will help to increase the level of patience and to slow down their writing instead of scribbling.

There are two benefits that arise from this – better handwriting that comes with practice and time, and an increased ability to think through what they are writing. When you write with a fountain pen, one tends to slow down their writing. Whether you write in cursive or normal script/print, when your writing slows down and you pay attention to each word, each letter, it helps to calm down your thinking process and clear your head. Not just that but slower writing also allows you to shape up your alphabet properly instead of merely scribbling them. This is wonderful practice for children!

Some Analog is Good in a Digital World

We live in a digital world where everything is easily typed, printed, sent and noted on our phones, tablets, computers. Therefore it is nice for a change to slow down a little and make lists on paper, or do essays on paper instead of typing them out. For children it is even more important perhaps because they were never from the generation which saw the transition from paper to mobile/handheld. They began with handheld and will only continue to go even faster and further into the digital age from here. It never hurts therefore to occasionally take a step back from the digital feels and get in touch with the analog once again.

So with that, let’s get down to business. Which pens do we recommend then?

Our recommendations

For the child that is slightly more clumsy (as some of us adults still are, oops) and tends to throw their pens at the bottom of the bag, or you might end up finding their fountain pen under the rug while sweeping, we recommend the Kaweco Sport!

Kaweco Classic Sport

Firstly, it’s a very wonderful size, as compared to other fountain pens that are long (on its own) and even longer posted, the Kaweco Sport is a size that’s kid-friendly (and adult friendly too, let’s face it).

The cap is a twist-on which means that you won’t have to worry about it coming off and the ink splotching everything they own in their schoolbag/pencil case.

The pen has an octagonal shape which is also ergonomically friendly and helps with the grip!

Not just that, but it is easily refillable. Kaweco uses standard cartridges so it’s easily replaceable and you could buy them in a pack of 6 at one go.

Kaweco Sport Fountain Pens offer a wide range of nib sizes, from the tiny Extra Fine to a Double Broad and all in between. It’s interchangeable too, which means you can start at Medium and move up/down however you wish to.

You can start off your child with the Kaweco Classic Sport and choose from a range of opaque colours.

If you’re looking for something a little more translucent or Ice-y, try the Kaweco Ice Sport.

TWSBI Eco-T

We also recommend this pen for many reasons. For starters it has a really nice grip. The grip of the Eco T has a rounded triangular shape to assist beginners with proper finger placement – something that you want to definitely teach your children, how to hold a pen properly!

The TWSBI Eco-T is a piston filler and is able to fill up to about 1.5ml in ink. Without ink it weighs about 12g which is light enough for a young one to hold comfortably.

It is also a pen that can be disassembled completely and it is wonderful, especially if you’re already a parent with a love for fountain pens and want to spread this love to your children as well! You can teach them the basics, including how to disassemble the pen completely to wash and clean it, ensuring better and longer topnotch performance from your pen.

Kaweco Classic Sport vs TWSBI Eco-T

As compared to the pen mentioned above, the Kaweco Classic Sport, the TWSBI Eco-T is a piston filler. Therefore, for younger children ages 9-12 we recommend the Kaweco Sport as it is easier to refill with cartridges as compared to the TWSBI Eco-T.

For children ages 13 onwards, we recommend the TWSBI Eco-T as they are more capable of handling ink bottles with less chances for spillage.

We also recommend younger children with smaller hands try the Kaweco Sport before the TWSBI Eco-T because it is just smaller and easier to hold. They can always try the TWSBI Eco-T later on!

Here are the pictures of the Kaweco Classic Sport vs TWSBI Eco-T compared side by side.

We hope this has given you some ideas! Tell us which one you chose! Tag us in your purchases on instagram @cityluxesg.