Scissors Skills

Please make sure all scissors skills activities are closely supervised by an adult.

• Pre-scissor skill activities promote developing open and close movement patterns of the hand. They include: using tongs or tweezers to pick up and place small objects into a container, using a spray bottle to water plants or spray water, "pinching" play dough or silly putty/therapy putty, squirt toys, using a water dropper or cooking baster to transfer water

• start with simple warm-ups that encourage a "thumbs-up" pattern for cutting. this includes: snipping straws and paper strips

• Bolden lines with a black marker for beginners. Start with straight lines, zig-zags, then curvy

• The first shape to learn how to cut is typically a circle

• Draw and arrow as a visual cue to guide children on where to initially cut into paper to get the shape

• Cutting on index cards or card stock allows more control for early scissors skills learners