The Preschooler

Tweezers are Twicky

Have you ever dropped a small bead or other tiny object and found it impossible to pick it up because it was so small?  Without good fine motor skills, children can encounter this same frustration even when objects are the size of an o-shaped cereal.  Practicing this skill, called the pincer grasp, with tweezers can help children master the ability to pick up small objects with their fingers.

First, select a pair of tweezers that have rounded ends (No Sharp Tweezers!!) so that your child can safely participate in the activity.  Then, gather a selection of small objects, such as beads, buttons, cereal pieces, and anything else colorful that you think your child could pick up with the tweezers and place them in a bowl.  Next, give your child a piece of construction paper and a bottle of glue.  Let your child dot the paper with small puddles of glue about the same size as the objects he will be gluing.  Finally, allow your child to carefully use the tweezers to grasp one object at a time from the bowl and place it on a pile of glue.  You will now have a beautiful piece of artwork, and your child will have practiced his pincer grasp.

*Always closely supervise a child when using small objects that could be a choking hazard!

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Written by BRWI Staff on June 18, 2010