Fine motor2–4 yrsAt home

Tongs & paper balls

Two bowls and some scrap paper become a finger workout.

Prep

2 min

Mess

None

How to play

Put the balls in one bowl. The challenge is moving them to the other, one by one, using only the tongs. Once he's got it, race him.

  1. scrap paper being scrunched into balls
    1

    Scrunch scrap paper into small balls.

  2. paper balls piled in one bowl, an empty bowl beside it
    2

    Pile them in one bowl; set the empty one beside it.

  3. tongs moving a paper ball between two bowls
    3

    Move them across one by one — tongs only. Then race them.

What you need

Kitchen tongs (or a clothes peg), scrunched paper balls, and two bowls.

What it secretly builds

Fine motor

The pincer grip — the same finger movement he'll later need to hold a spoon, and eventually a pencil.

Spin again