Simply Made: DIY Chopstick Tongs

A favorite tool around our house to work on the pincer grasp, transferring objects, and concentration are tongs/tweezers. We use them for all sorts of fine motor fun!

 

I really like the Easy Grip Tweezers from Learning Resources. They are great for chubby little hands! But recently, my son lost interest in practicing transferring objects using them. He said he was getting "too big" for them and that it was "too easy." If I'm being honest, he was right about the easy part. I decided it was time to make it a little harder and add the novelty of a new tool into the mix.

My inspiration came from our favorite Japanese restaurant. While eating there, they brought my son a pair of kid chopsticks and he thought they were the coolest thing ever. On our way out, I asked if we could have an extra set of chopsticks to use at home. When we got home, I got right down to making a set of tongs/tweezers with a little more difficulty involved.

Materials:

• Clean pair of chopsticks
• strip of paper (about 1 inch wide)
• tape
• rubber band
• scissors

Directions:
Cut a strip of paper about 1 inch wide. Starting on the small end, tightly roll the strip of paper. Secure the end with tape.

Place the rolled up paper in between the chopsticks and twist the rubber band around--you'll need to go above and below the paper to secure it. I used trial and error (and some simple machine knowledge from elementary school) to figure out the best placement for the paper. You will need to leave some space at the top and move the paper down toward the middle. Play around with the placement and the thickness of the paper roll.

 

Once your Chopstick Tongs are working, it's time to start playing! Have your tot transfer pom-poms, cotton balls, etc. to work on their pincer grasp (handwriting muscles).

 

Since it is the beginning of Winter, my son transferred "snowballs" AKA cotton balls (you could use white pom-poms, too). The Chopstick Tongs are a little more difficult to control and was just the change that my little guy needed to grab his attention again.

 

Want some more fine motor inspiration? Check out my Fine Motor Fun board on Pinterest!