Visual Motor Skills

What are visual motor skills?

This is the area of development which combines visual perceptual skills ( i.e. what one sees) and eye hand coordination (i.e. what one can motorically reproduce). It is a foundation skill essential for the production quality in written work. This can include tasks such as scissor use, drawing, letter formation, etc (Dichairo, 2023). 

Developing Scissor Skills

If used correctly, scissors can enhance the development of the same small muscles used for writing. As  with writing, scissor use requires critical foundation skills for the child to be successful. 

The  scissors

The scissors used should be the correct size, and designed to fit a child’s hand.  They should have small loop handles and be sharp enough to cut. 

Positioning  the  scissors and the hands

• 1. The thumb should always be placed UP ( ‘thumb’s up!”)

  2. The thumb should be placed in the smaller loop.

  3. The middle finger (not the index finger) should be placed in the lower loop.

  4. The index finger should be placed outside the scissors, below the blade to help stabilize the scissors.

  5. The fourth and fifth fingers should be inactive and curled into the palm (  hold a small item , i.e. a marble, in those fingers in order to  keep  them  inactive)

  6. Scissors should not go past the child’s first knuckle.

  7. The arm holding the scissors should be positioned by the side, with  the  elbow  bent.

  8. The ‘helping’ hand should be maneuvering the object being cut

Scissor  readiness

            Paper should not be introduced to a child until the child has shown an interest in cutting, has learned to hold the scissors correctly, and is able to open and close the scissors ( with the proper scissor grasp) in a coordinated manner.  The following activities are designed to enhance scissor skill/ muscle development, but do not promote precision (cutting along a line):

• 1. Cut strips of play doh to make pretend spaghetti/noodles.

  2. Cut up colored straws and make a necklace with the remnants.

  3. Cut up thin styrofoam or foam sheets and glue a 3-D design on paper.

  4. Snip thin  sandpaper (this provides a nice sensory component as well)

  5. Snip old greeting cards and make a collage.

  6. Make fringe along a small piece of construction paper.

Scissor  use

Once  the scissor grasp as been developed and maintained, the sequence of cutting with precision should be as follows:

• 1. Cut straight lines first

  2. Once the above is mastered, cut slightly curved lines

  3. The last skill should be the cutting out of objects.

Compiled by Claire Connor Groll OTR/L (2002)