Lakeshore Tweezer Tongs User Manual

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Color Sorting Kit

Develops skills in:

• Building fine motor strength and coordination

• Building pre-writing skills
Developing eye/hand coordination

Students will have a ball building fine motor control, sorting skills, and
eye/hand coordination—with this super-engaging color sorting kit!
Children simply hold the tweezer tongs just like they would grip a
pencil, and then grab and sort colored balls into clear tubes, developing

the muscle control and coordination they'll need to start writing.

What's Included

•

Tweezer tongs

• 50 balls in 5 colors

• 5 sorting tubes

• Sorting tray

Before You Begin

Place the tweezer tongs, sorting tubes, and colored balls into the plastic

sorting tray.

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A

WARNING:

CHOKING

HAZARD

—

Item contains small

parts and small ball. Not for children under 3 yrs.

©2013 Lakeshore
[phone]
www.lakeshorelearning.com

LLI08

Using the Kit

Introduce the kit to students. Demonstrate the correct way to hold the
tweezer tongs between the thumb, index finger, and middle finger.
Then show children how to use the tweezer tongs to pick up a ball and

sort it by color into a tube.
Allow children to hold the tweezer tongs and use them to pick up a ball

and sort it into a tube. After each child's turn, ask, "Was that easy or

hard?" Help any children who struggle.

After every student has had a chance to practice using the kit, place it

in a center

for independent use.

Extension Activities

• Use the kit for a counting activity! Write a number 1-5 on five
removable

labels and place each label on a sorting tube. Prompt
children to use the tweezer tongs to drop the matching number of
balls into each tube. If your students can easily count past five, write

higher numbers on the tubes.

• Encourage students to use the tweezer tongs to pick up other objects,
such as pom-poms, counters, manipulatives, and more! (Before

making the items available to students, be Sure to test how easily
each one can be picked up with the tweezer tongs.) Label small bowls
with the name of a specific item. Then prompt students to use the
tweezer tongs to sort the items into the matching bowls.

• Prompt students to sort colored pom-poms instead of the balls!
Provide colors different from those featured in the kit, and encourage

students to sort the pom-poms into the tubes by color.

Informal Assessment Ideas

• observe students as they use the tweezer tongs. Note if each student
holds the tweezer tongs like they would hold a pencil. Assist any
students who struggle.

•

Observe a student as she sorts the balls by color. Prompt her to name

the color as she drops a ball in the tube. Note any colors that she
struggles with.

• Record your observations in each child's file. Repeat the activities in a
few months to track their progress.

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