[Source:  Mama OT.com]

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!
Read 50 Fun Ways to Play with Tongs on the Mama OT Website
Read Mama OT’s blog post on How to Make Kiddie Chopsticks