Who said tongs are just for cooking?! As much as I may try, my kiddos seem to think that my tongs do not belong in the kitchen. Actually, they use them for just about everything but cooking! Truth be told, they are actually great tools for fine motor practice. And a super fun way to clean up after playtime!
My middle kiddo actually came up with this game! We were playing with our train set and he ran to the kitchen, opened up the small drawer next to the oven and pulled out all of our silicone cooking utensils. He brought them into the living room and plopped them on the ground beside the train set. The baby (make that, 1 year old – sob, sob!) immediately grabbed a spatula and started gnawing. Apparently, cooking utensils make great teething toys as well, haha! After sorting through the rest of the utensils, he grabbed the tongs. And, without any prompting, he started plucking up train track pieces, one at a time, and placing them back in the bin. Thus, the Tong Clean Up Game was born!
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Materials
- Toys
- Kid-sized tongs
How To
This game is about as simple as it gets!
1. Play with toys
2. Grab tongs
3. Clean up toys using tongs
4. That’s it!
Let’s be honest. We love it when our kids play and get into their toys, but it can look like you had a playdate for 10 after your single toddler gets done playing…and cleaning all of that up is not exactly the picture of a relaxing evening. Although, if I am being completely honest, I do enjoy cleaning up certain toys and organizing the playroom at the end of the day. I always enjoyed organizing my classroom, and treat our playroom the same way! However, according to my husband, I am a rare breed (a.k.a – a weirdo, haha), so hopefully this game will make your life a little less stressful!
Best part about this game? You guessed it! THEY CLEAN UP! There is no pulling out new toys to create the game, you just clean up whatever is out. Depending on the pair of tongs that you have, they can pick up just about anything! Think blocks, pattern blocks, small animals, chunky puzzle pieces, cookie letters, Lego Duplos, and on and on! This is a great activity to use the tong clean up after!
If you want to add some enriching moments into this game, simply ask your little to pick up specific things. ‘Find something blue’, ‘Pick up all of the curved train track pieces’, ‘Put away 5 toys’, etc. They are learning without even realizing it! Do you know what else they are doing while they play this game? Strengthening those sweet little fingers! Using tongs to grab toys requires a boat-load of fine motor skills. Skills that they will need to color, cut, and hold a pencil in the future. Extremely important skills that are easy to overlook. But this game will help to strengthen those little fingers all while getting your toys straightened and saving your sanity. You are welcome! (wink, wink)
Related: Looking for an activity to do with those small animals you just cleaned up? Check this one out!
So, at the end of the evening when you are exhausted and want to pretend that you don’t see the tornado of toys strewn throughout your house; hand your kiddo a pair of tongs and watch as they ‘play clean’ everything back to its place!
Looking for another activity that cleans itself up? Check out our Paw Patrol Alphabet Rescue Activity!
