Snip scissors how to#

And boom! Snipping practice, resulting in an awesome lion’s mane! 2 || Grassy Bug Hideout Then, I tell the child that we need to give the lion a mane! I help the child grasp scissors properly to snip along the edge of the paper, all the way around the circle. Here are some of my favorite beginner scissor activities for kids! Beginner Cutting Skills for Kids 1 || Lion’s Maneįor this simple activity, I cut a circle out of yellow or orange paper and draw a lion’s face in the middle. Early exposure is the best way to help kids learn good positioning and habits with scissors. My answer usually surprises people! I recommend introducing play and exploration with scissors as early as 2 years old (with supervision, of course!). Many parents and educators ask how old kids should be before they introduce scissors at home or in the classroom.

When Should You Introduce Kids to Scissors? So I use a variety of different strategies, crafts, and activities to keep kids motivated and interested in early scissor activities. That’s a lot of effort, right?Īs we start with the basic action of grasping and opening and closing the scissors (and gradually advancing to moving scissors across paper), it can help to show kids that all of that snipping and cutting has a clear purpose.

Snip scissors how to#

They need something more interesting, something that gives a purpose to their hard work!Īfter all, as kids learn to use scissors, they’re learning how to integrate and coordinate a complex series of actions – grasping the scissors properly, positioning them on the paper, opening and closing them, stabilizing their paper with their non-dominant hand, moving scissors forward across the paper, and eventually following a cutting line with their scissors. Read more.Īs a pediatric occupational therapist, when I first start teaching kids how to use scissors, I start with snipping – simply getting used to that motion of grasping, opening, and closing the scissors.īut usually, it’s not enough to just have kids snip along a strip of paper. These simple beginner cutting skills are great for helping young kids and kids with fine motor delays to learn how to snip paper and move scissors across paper.