tweezers Archives | Mama OTMama OT

Tongs, tweezers, and chopsticks are great for developing hand skills necessary for cutting with scissors and writing with pencils. Earlier this week I shared a DIY tutorial on how to make kiddie chopsticks, and I mentioned that the ability to use tongs is a pre-scissors skill, and the ability to use scissors is a pre-writing skill. When kids use tongs, they have to learn to “separate” the two sides of their hands (thumb/index finger side and middle/ring/pinky finger side), and this is exactly what is needed in order to successfully operate both scissors and a pencil. Think about it…

Tong play can begin as early as toddlerhood (I love to give toddlers short salad tongs so they can use with their whole hand to start) and can progress to more refined use of kiddie chopsticks and tiny tweezers as kids progress through elementary school. It’s never too late to have fun with tongs!

Below you’ll find a list of 50 fun ways to play with tongs. Some are my ideas (which I’m sure have also been done by others) and the rest are the wonderful ideas of those who work with kids and have blogged about it — therapists, parents, teachers, daycare providers, and more. Be sure to submit other ideas for tongs/tweezers/chopsticks play in the comments section at the end of this post…we’d love to hear your ideas!

Practice Makes Perfect

1. Feed the Big Mouth Frog from Therapy Fun Zone

2. Tongs with Pipe Cleaners from Embrace Your Chaos

3. Candy, Tongs, and Suction Cups from Havin’ Fun Yet?

4. Beads with Suction Cups from PreKinders

5. Beads in a Paint Palette from PreKinders

6. Pom Poms with Tweezers in an Ice Cube Tray from PreKinders

7. Pom Poms in a Bottle with Tongs from PreKinders

8. Pom Pom Tea Party from It’s a Long Story

9. Seeds and Tweezers from PreKinders

10. Tongs and Marbles on a Bath Mat from Play Based Learning

11. Tongs and Bath Toys from i’m going to make it (after all)

Around the House

12. Pick up dirty clothes with tongs and place in laundry basket

13. Go on a toy scavenger hunt with tongs and a bag/basket

14. Feed the family pet (e.g., dog, fish) using tongs

15. Clean up bath toys with tongs and put in a bag or bucket

The Great Outdoors

16. Collect pieces of nature (leaves, sticks, etc.) with tongs and put in a bag or bucket

Games and Puzzles
17. Stack blocks while using tongs from Embrace Your Chaos

18. Tong Jenga

19. Use tongs to move game pieces while playing board games from Embrace Your Chaos

20. Use tongs or chip clips to pick up puzzle pieces that have tiny knobs on top from Embrace Your Chaos

Games with Names

21. Bed Bugs from Amazon.com

22. Operation from Amazon.com

23. Hungry Dog from Amazon.com

24. Hungry Monkey from Amazon.com

25. Hungry Bunny from Amazon.com

26. Wok and Roll from Amazon.com

27. Scatterpillar Scramble from Amazon.com

In the Kitchen
28. Use tongs to pull toast out of the toaster

29. Use tongs to help serve foods at mealtime such as fruits, veggies, pasta, and salad

30. Eat with tongs (salad, pasta, meat, popcorn, etc.)

Getting Crafty

31. Complete crafts while using tongs or tweezers (e.g., placing items like beans, dry macaroni, cotton balls, pom poms, balls of tissue paper, etc. onto glue) from Embrace Your Chaos

32. Beans on a Tiger with Tweezers from Lessons Learnt Journal

33. Pom Pom Tong Art from It’s a Long Story

34. Winter Crafts with Tongs from Embrace Your Chaos

35. Wizard Hat Craft with Tongs from Embrace Your Chaos

36. Perler Beads with Tweezers from christiekiley

Pre-Academics

37. Pom Pom Muffin Tin Sorting from Childcare Land

38. Math with Tongs from PreKinders

39. Beads and Numbers in an Egg Carton from Mrs. Kelly’s Kindergarten

40. Rainbow Beads in an Egg Carton from Katy Lane

41. AB Pattern in an Egg Carton from Katy Lane

Sensory Play