Scissor precision is a basic skill that’s essential for all kiddos but can be tricky to master. First, you should determine if your kids need right- or left-handed scissors. Then, choose comfortable, kid-sized safety scissors. Beginning with varied types of cuts can help them gain dexterity and fine motor skills. Moving onto more creative activities, littles can then pair their skills with glue sticks to create cut-and-paste art projects and multi-modal worksheets. Check out our top 20 ideas for inspiration on where to begin!
1. Creative Crowns
Make your kids royalty! Measure a wide strip of paper to your kids’ head circumference. Draw a zig-zag and then have them cut along the line to create spikes. They can then cut simple shapes for embellishments and use pasting skills to attach them. Glue the ends together to make the crown.
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2. Shape Matching
Printable activity sheets provide easy cutting practice- a perfect activity for matching skills. In these, half of the shape is separated from their match. Kids cut the half-shape squares and glue them next to their match.
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3. Ice Cream Counting
Kids can begin by coloring assorted ice cream scoops. Each scoop is numbered. Then, learners cut out a cone, color it, and then cut out each scoop. Paste together to form a numerical scoop line-up.
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4. Caterpillar Chains
Have kids cut green construction paper into long, thin strips. Cut one strip of red paper and glue the ends together to make a circle. Insert a green strip through the red circle, and glue the ends together. Repeat until you have the length you want. Add eyes, a mouth, and antennae to complete the craft!
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5. Handprint Flowers
Ask kids to trace multiple handprints on an 11×14 piece of construction paper. Cut along the outlines to make individual hands. Arrange in a circle; gluing the edges together to make a flower of fingers. Glue a stick to the center to create a stem.
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6. Easter Egg Wreath
Have kids use a 3” egg template to trace eggs onto decorative paper to make 9 eggs. Cut the eggs out and glue them together along the edges. A circle base like a paper plate may be a helpful guide for then gluing them into a circle.
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7. Emoji Masks
Glue popsicle sticks onto yellow plates. Then, your kiddos can cut and paste various shapes onto the base to make cute emoji faces. Ideas include half-circles for mouths, ovals for tongues, hearts for eyes, and thin strips for funny expressions.
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8. Cut Up Art
Almost an optical illusion! Kids draw straight lines lengthwise on a sheet of paper. Then, they can cut various-sized vertical strips widthwise and glue them parallel to one another; leaving spaces in between.
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9. Build a Town
Shapes of all sizes form creative houses in this awesome gluing activity! Let kids practice cutting out shapes. Then, give them an 11×14 piece of construction paper and let them combine the shapes to make various style houses.
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10. Number Matching
For beginning learners, cutting squares can be tricky. Use these glue activity sheets to reinforce math skills; cutting out the squares with bananas in them and then gluing them to match the appropriate monkey.
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11. Cupcake-Liner Fish
Grab a paper plate and colored cupcake liners. Have kids cut a triangle mouth into a paper plate and glue it on a googly eye. Then, they can cut cupcake liners in half and glue them on; overlapping them in rows to make scales. A triangle tail completes the look!
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12. Cut-and-Paste Collage
Save all of your paper scraps in a bin along with other miscellaneous materials. Then, let kids use their scissors to cut and create an avant-garde collage. They can glue items down in whatever way they choose for truly unique and empowering art.
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13. Paper Cup Flowers
With various size paper cups, have kids cut straight or curvy lines down to the base of the cup. Then, they can decorate with markers or paint and let them dry. Poke a hole in the center and attach a chenille stem to create a flower chain!
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14. Color Wheel Flowers
Have kids draw a circle for the center of their flower and then cut it out. Provide a variety of colored, patterned paper for kids to cut out oval petals. Arrange them in rainbow order and glue them down. They can then glue the circle in the center and add a stem to finish the craft.
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15. Shape Garlands
Kids cut out pairs of shapes from colored pieces of paper to form a front and a back. Squeeze a line of glue down the center of one of the shape cutouts, carefully attach the string and then place the shapes match on top. Hang to create a unique piece of décor.
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16. Paper Bag Jellyfish
Kids can use a variety of colors to paint the front of a paper lunch bag. Then, they can break out the craft scissors and cut straight lines up the bag to the fold. Glue on googly eyes, and voila; striking jellyfish!
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17. Paper Quilts
Give kids a colored paper circle to decorate with designs. Then, cut the circle into quarters. Match straight edges together and glue them onto a base square. Tape them together to make a striking image!
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18. Hug-a-Bunny
Kiddos trace their hands on pastel paper and cut out the handprints. Cut off the middle finger and fold the thumb and pinky in to make arms. Glue on pink ovals for inner ears and a pink triangle nose.
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19. 3D Twisty Trees
Kids can cut strips of brown paper to create branches. They can then glue one strip down to create a trunk before twisting and gluing down their branches. Glue on red circle apples for a sweet pop!
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20. Mosaic Sun
Kids can tear and glue squares of blue and purple paper to a blank background. Then, they can cut out a yellow circle and a variety of yellow and orange triangles. They’ll then down the circle to make the sun and add the triangles around it to make rays.
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