Cutting with scissors requires the skill of finger separation. This skill involves using your index, thumb, and middle fingers separately from your pinkie and ring fingers. All such processes can be complex for younger children which is why we’ve put together 25 ways that’ll help you easily teach scissors-cutting skills to kids.
1. Hand Exercises
Introduce the kids to tools based on their opening and closing patterns, such as tongs and clips. With consistent use of these tools, they’ll have better motor development. Go here for a better representation.
2. Playdough Craft
You can have learners insert and extract golf tees from play dough to help strengthen motor strength. Get them to cut a couple of simple and complex shapes from playdough before beginning. Watch this video to understand the activity better.
3. Crumpling Papers
This activity can help kiddos develop their fine motor skills, especially when they crumple the paper with one hand. Have the kids take pieces of paper and squeeze them. You can let them begin with two hands to make it easier. This video describes the activity.
4. Paper Ripping
When you task your kids with tearing a piece of paper, it helps to improve their motor skills, which is vital for using scissors. When they tear paper, they improve their bilateral coordination and acquire the finger strength required to handle scissors. Watch this video to understand better.
5. Scissors Play
The child involved should place their thumbs in the smaller hole at the top rather than the bottom hole to avoid having to twist their arms inwards when cutting. Get them to shear firm paper or construction paper. The sturdy paper makes it a little challenging. You can watch this video to understand better.
6. Cutting Practice
Strengthen finger muscles with this activity in which children are able to practice their cutting skills at leisure. Take the pressure off by telling them to cut whatever shape their heart desires! Watch this video for further explanations.
7. DIY Visual Lesson Stickers
Some kids may have trouble placing their thumbs up. Work with your preschoolers to make DIY stickers to remind them. Visit here for more information.
8. Hands-On Teaching
Some kids may find it challenging to handle scissors, especially with poor motor skills. You may have to help such kids open the scissors until they can do it independently. This video explains it better.
9. Special Scissors Cutting
Opt for spring-loaded scissors to avoid frustration. These scissors automatically open after being closed and help resolve learners’ inability to handle regular scissors. Visit here if you have any confusion.
10. Snipping Playdough
Children will snip the playdough with scissors to improve their cutting skills. Have learners craft any shape they like before getting to work with the scissors. You can watch this video to teach your kids.
11. Grasp Practice
You can help your kids hold their cutting materials when they are just beginning to help them concentrate on opening and closing the scissors. Help them do this until you discover improvements in their abilities to both grasp the page and operate their scissors. Visit here to see how.
12. Snipping Straws
Snipping straws is another fun activity for kids to improve their scissors-cutting skills. You can get them to snip plastic straws with scissors and then lace them onto a piece of string to create a piece of wearable art! This video shows how.
13. Strip Cutting
Provide your kids with paper or cardstock and let them cut narrow strips from them. They can then get to work gluing their strips onto a piece of paper before displaying their finished artwork around the classroom. Visit here to learn more.
14. DIY Paper Snowflakes
Have your kids make unique snowflakes using paper. This activity entails loads of cutting and is a great way to work on motor skills development. This is even more effortless than other activities!
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15. Sticker Cut-Outs
After doing some free-form cutting, give students guided cutting exercises with stickers. Doing this helps them improve their concentration and coordination skills. This video provides a more detailed array of instructions.
16. Ingredient Slicing
You can provide your kids with easy food for snipping. Spring onion, lettuce, and even banana are great food items for this activity! Ensure that your scissors are clean for such practice so that the food can be enjoyed once cut. Visit here for further information.
17. Step-By-Step Lessons
You should teach your kids to move their scissors forward after each snip if you don’t want them stuck in one position. Let them do this slowly to improve their concentration and accuracy. This video is perfect for demonstrating how to do so.
18. Out-Of-The-Box Cutting
Some kids may require unique teaching practices to learn better. In this instance, you can use other utensils to work on cutting skills. Visit here for ideas on what to cut.
19. Wide Lines Cutting
Introduce your kids to broader lines before they begin to cut thinner ones. When they begin cutting broader lines, they will improve their concentration, which is needed in the latter stages. This video provides a good visual demonstration.
20. Fringe Papers
For fringe cuts, the kids need to snip the paper up to a marked spot. Set their arm positions and body positions right. For ease, you can also set a marked spot for them to place their hands. Visit here for a simple demonstration.
21. Straight Lines Cutting
Unlike snipping, cutting long straight lines requires multiple cuts, which might be difficult for youngsters. Draw straight lines of a suitable width on paper and ask the kids to cut along them. Visit here for more information.
22. Zig-Zag Line Cutting
This activity may be challenging for kids as it requires successive snips and turns of their hands to the left and the right. Simply draw a series of zig-zag lines on a piece of paper before allowing your little ones to get to work cutting. This video will help you achieve better results.
23. Cutting Curvy Lines
Cutting curvy lines requires complete bilateral coordination between turning the paper and properly opening and closing the scissors. Start learners off by having them cut large circles. Watch this for a better representation.
24. Angled Line Cutting
This activity involves cutting right-angle shapes like rectangles and squares, which require cutting the material to a point and then turning it to continue. Start things off easily by letting learners cut large shapes before progressing to smaller ones. Visit here for a further look at how to get started.
25. Cardstock Salad
Get the kids to make their own DIY Salad with just a bunch of tools. They’ll cut up different colored paper into a bowl and mix them up. This will produce a fun salad for kids to enjoy playing with! The different cuts they do teach them varied cutting styles.
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