Playing is often talked about as if it were a relief from serious learning. But for children, play is serious learning. Play is really the work of childhood. – Fred Rogers
Fine motor skills are those that involve small muscle movements, usually involving the hands and fingers in coordination with the eyes. Tongs are a great fine motor tool for many different reasons. Firstly, this activity works on strengthening the muscles in the hand. In addition, it is great to isolate the index, middle finger and the thumb which gives a fine grip like they hold crayons and pencils. Children were given a tong and a tray full of colourful soft and hard tiny balls. Teacher instructed the kids to use the tongs to pick the balls and put them in separate bowls placed in front of them. They were excited to see the colourful balls and to use tong for the first time in school. They enjoyed picking the balls using the tong and placing them in bowls. Though the task was challenging at first, the little ones quickly mastered the technique and cheered their peers.
This activity promotes colour recognition skills and sorting of different objects. It also helps the kids to use their preferred hand to promote hand dominance and develop the eye-hand coordination.
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