After preparing a meal of homemade sushi, Travis was eager to learn how to use chopsticks. I remember learning this same skill as a child, and how tricky it can be! Here were a few fun games (hint: there’s candy involved) that honed his skills.

First up was simply showing him proper form, with the chopstick wedged between thumb and pointer finger. Then I showed him how to place the second chopstick between thumb and forefinger and to use the middle finger on top like a little lever.

It was tricky, but he was a good sport about it! For the games that followed, he did revert to a typical first-timer move, pinching the items between two chopsticks with one in each hand instead.

His favorite was Color Sorting because of course we used candy.

Choose any candy with multiple colors and move them from a jumble into color-sorted piles.

The reward of course was eating them.

Next up was a Pick-Up Relay. You can play this as a true competition, moving items from a full bowl to an empty one and seeing who’s fastest, but Travis and I worked as a “team”. He tackled the easy item (mini Dandies marshmallows) and I handled the hard one (marbles – tough even for grown-ups!)

Then we played a Passing Game. Using chopsticks, we passed a rubber band back and forth. Travis loved this one!

Finally, we played Chopstick in the Hole. Tie a string to a chopstick and then the other end to a player’s wrist.

The goal was to lower the chopstick into an empty water bottle. There may, in fact, have been some cheating involved.

But Travis was still so proud!