Santino's favorite utensil actually has a much greater purpose, other then just distracting him when I'm washing dishes or cooking. Tongs help children to work on the grip of their hands and fingers, preparing them for writing.
I found this great article here (click), giving a few great suggestions to promote development of the fine motor skills. Santino always loved playing with tongs, snapping them like crocodiles, but now I was able to actually put this utensil to a good use.
I started giving Pipidinko small and light large objects to pick up with the tongs. Yesterday we picked up and sorted chickpeas and beads. I reminded him that these are "chickpeas and beads" both in English and in Russian.
He picked up plastic containers, after he practiced opening them.
Today he enjoyed playing with the wooden blocks. I suggested building a tower with the tongs. He loved this idea! And once he was finished, he wanted to do it again and again!
I gave him an empty eggs container (actually, only a half, as it was a leftover from another project) and 5 small onions to pick up with the tongs and put in the egg slots. He also learned "onion" and "slots", again in both languages.
Once he was done, he wanted to take them out, again, with the tongs.
I noticed he often switches hands, and doesn't always stick to the right hand, not only when playing with tongs, but also when drawing and painting. Often he would take 2 paint brushes and will paint with both at the same time.
To summarize, I loved these activities! I can see Pipidinko doing this every day, picking up more fun stuff, practicing, concentrating and just simply enjoying himself!
