Scissor Skills

Above is a fun visual that can help kids and families with some basics in learning to hold a pair of scissors. You can download this poster here.

First, make sure that when your child is holding the scissors, that the thumb is in the top whole of the scissors which on a Fiskars scissors is a small round hole.

Next, make sure the thumb is in the "thumbs up position". Do not allow the student to rotate the arm so that the thumb is pointing downward in the scissors.

Third, always position the project so that the student is cutting on a flat surface vs. cutting vertical. Encourage your child to use one hand to cut and the helper hand to "steer" the paper as they cut. If you see their elbow extend away from the body("chicken wing") this is an indication that they need to steer the paper so that their forearm and wrist are rotated so that you can see the "thumbs up "position with the scissors!