Tong Pick Up

This experience enhances children fine motor skills through hand-eye coordination and controlling finger and
hand movements which is required when children learn to write.

• Kitchen tongs (or smaller children’s size if available)

• Small items – cotton balls, ping pong balls, small blocks

Supervision – Ensure the small items don’t go into the child’s mouth

Lay the small items on a plate or tray and encourage the child to pick them up using the kitchen tongs.
Use encouraging words to encourage perseverance ‘Oh you nearly got the white cotton ball, try again and see if
you can get it. Good job, you got it this time.’
And provide physical support, e.g. placing your hand over the child’s hand for the first few times until they
understand the objective.

Have a few small bowls to sort and classify their items which then extends the child’s cognitive skills by being
able to discriminate between objects. (This also lends itself to sorting and classifying the rest of their toys when
packing away!)