01/20/2026
TUESDAY TOY OF THE DAY!
Tong games are a classic but effective way to work on so many amazing skills such as:
๐๏ธ Handedness
๐๏ธ Grasping skills
๐๏ธ Hand strength and endurance
๐๏ธ Crossing midline
๐๏ธ Visual-motor skills
Tong games are a great way to practice these skills in a fun and playful way! It switches things up from having your kid color, draw and write letters. โ๏ธ
Is your kid having trouble using just three fingers? No problem! Place two stickers at the bottom of one side of the tongs and one sticker on the bottom of the other. This provides them with a visual cue ๐๏ธ of where to place their fingers.
Level โฌ๏ธ: Place the pieces on one side of your kids body and place the container on the other. This helps your kiddo practice crossing their midline to place the items into the container. You can make this even harder by placing the container at shoulder level. Now your child needs to reach above gravity to place it in. ๐คฉ
Practice core strength too by completing these games in a cross-legged position or on your belly! ๐ช๐ป If your kiddo is sitting cross-legged, have them hold on to the tongs with one hand and container with the other. This way they only use their belly muscles to sit up instead of using one hand to prop themselves up.
Make it active ๐โโ๏ธ! Place all the pieces on one side of the room and the container on the other. Now you have an obstacle course! Your child can do an animal walk to the pieces and then any movement back to put them in the container. This also gives your child more repetitions to practice assuming that tripod grasp! ๐๐ป
These feed the animal games come in three varieties (dog, bunny and monkey). ๐ถ ๐ฐ ๐ต Avalanche Fruit Stand, the Super Sorting Pie, and Sneaky, Snacky Squirrel are also some of our favorite tong games.
