Teaching children how to properly use “scissors” can be a difficult and daunting task!
If your child is reluctant to work with scissors and does not cooperate with you in learning, excite them by showing them things that can be made with scissor cutting and proceed step by step in the learning process.
Learning how to cut with scissors
Learning to cut basically involves two different skills:
1- Mastering finger placement in the scissors and hand movement
2- Mastering the art of cutting in a line
- Strengthening fingers for cutting without scissors (finger and hand coordination) Mastering the pulling hand movement (without scissors)
- Learning to snip into pieces (free-form movement with scissors)
- How to use scissors effectively – useful tips
Mastering scissor cutting
What if my child still struggles?
- Mastering the gripping movement
- The first step in learning how to use scissors and holding them comfortably in the hand is the free movement of opening and closing the scissors.
- The following fun activities will help your child easily learn this movement without using scissors.
1) Using spray bottles
- Let your child use a spray bottle to water plants outdoors or for fun during bath time.
- Squeezing and releasing the trigger helps your child easily coordinate hand and finger movements.
2) Clothespin activity
- Opening and closing a clothespin can help the child build pressure and the right amount of hand pressure on scissors.
- This activity strengthens the focus on the three fingers that hold the scissors, and the child can even use all their fingers for this activity.
- Use a clothespin to collect small pieces of shredded paper or other objects and transfer them to a container.
- Let your child hang small clothes on a clothesline. A delightful and exciting task!
- Provide parts of an egg carton and clothespins so the child can connect them together to build a zoo wall where they can place their animals.
It seems that with exercises like these, your child’s skills have improved; now let’s move on to scissors.
Be sure to follow these tips before using scissors:
- Use age-appropriate scissors for your child’s safety.
- Make sure your left-handed child uses left-handed scissors – this is very important!
- Make sure your child has fully learned how to use scissors.
- Thumb in one hole and middle finger through the other.
- The index finger can remain outside the scissors or be in the same hole as the middle finger.
Cutting paper with scissors
- Draw narrow strips on lined paper so your child can easily cut.
- This is easy because the scissors only open and close once.
- Use the cut paper in collages.
Cutting a circle
- Draw a circle on cardboard as shown and ask the child to carefully cut around it.
- Once your child has mastered cutting narrow strips, increase the size of the strips (4 or 5 centimeters).
- Use the cut papers in collages.
Best way to introduce your child to paper cutting is to draw large and simple shapes on different pieces of colored paper and have them cut along the outline. Then you can use these objects to create a scene and ask your child to decorate it and then put it on their room wall.