If you haven’t already, go ahead and hand over some kid scissors to your preschooler! This is such a crucial fine motor skill your kiddo needs before heading off to Kindergarten. This fine motor is a skill that gets better with lots of practice. Do not be afraid of handing your child a cutting tool, here are some tips and scissor practice skills that you can do at home with your preschooler.

If you did not know, there are a few types of kid scissors out there. A quick amazon search will pull up a few different kinds. In our classroom we use the ones with the rounded tip. As your preschooler gets older and more advanced with their scissor skills they can move up to the ones with a point. Also, pick up some construction paper or copy paper to have on hand so they have paper to practice with. You could also use bills that need to be shredded or the annoying postcard flyers that you get sent in the mail for them to practice their cutting. Two birds, one stone?

First, talk with your child about correct scissor safety. Introduce them to the tool and make sure they know how to properly hold and carry scissors while walking. Go over things they are allowed to cut and things they are not allowed to cut, you know like hair, pet fur, doll hair, carpet, home decorations, anything besides what you set the guidelines for. Be specific, sometimes kids try to find that loophole-haha! Show your child the correct way they should hold scissors in the cutting position. Have them try it out and just practice the basic movement. Make sure they are holding their wrist up, flipping their wrist inward is something we see at times, just help remind your child that they hold their thumb up and not down.

Once you are ready to practice with your child, hand them some paper. Give them about a half sheet to start, that way it is easier for them to hold in one handed. Pull out your baking sheet and have them practice cutting the paper over the tray, this makes for easy clean-up. Just let them practice cutting whatever they want at first, while you are supervising. Correct their hold if you see them try to flip their wrist. Let them practice until they lose interest. Keep practicing further until they get the hang of the cutting motion.

Once they feel comfortable with cutting, you can make easy scissor practice activities at home. One idea is putting a sticker on a piece of paper and drawing different types of lines that connect to the sticker. Your child will cut the (wavy, straight, curvy, loopy, zig-zag) line to try to get to the sticker. I will include a picture for reference. Another activity is to have your child cut out shapes-start by tracing the shape out on paper for them to cut out on the line. As they progress just tell them the shape to cut out on their own to make it a bit harder. You could also have your kiddo just out “snowflakes”. Show them how to fold their paper, this will also make cutting a bit more challenging. Depending on their ability, have them make triangle cuts, or just straight lines on the folded crease. When they open up their paper they will have their snowflakes!

If your child is struggling with using scissors, they do make spring lever action scissors that help make it easier for kids to cut. This could be an option at first to help them practice, then switch back to the regular form when you think they are ready. If your child is having a hard time keeping their wrist turned correctly, you can draw a smiley face on their thumb nail as a way to remind them that the smile stays up while you cut.
Allowing your child to safely have access and use scissors is a great independent skill to work on. Take the time to teach them and let them practice, kids really do love to just cut up paper!

Ms. Whitney
Lead Pre-Kindergarten Teacher
Curriculum Coordinator

Now is the best time to encourage your child to channel their inner artist! Get the art materials and supplies ready because this March, we are celebrating National Crafts Month! National Crafts Month was created by the Craft and Hobby Association in 1994.

This celebration of crafts is designed to encourage everyone to find joy in crafting, learn new crafts and discover or revisit a hobby. It also supports the use of all kinds of mediums. From paints, fabrics, yarns, paper – you can have your child take their pick when it comes to materials.

Celebrate National Crafts Month with these projects your little one will surely love!

Rainbow Windsock Toilet Paper Roll Craft

This Rainbow Windsock Toilet Paper Roll Craft is an adorable craft perfect for rainy days. It can turn your child’s gloomy day into something fun and exciting!

Here are the materials you’ll need:

• blue paint
• toilet paper roll
• scissors
• white paper
• black marker
• string
• tissue paper in different colors
• hole puncher

How to do it?

1. Start by painting the toilet paper roll in blue. You can have your child do this step with your guidance.
2. Once the roll is painted, you can set it aside until the paint dries completely.
3. In the meantime, you can make the clouds by drawing a cloud shape and cutting it out. Let your child draw eyes and a mouth to make it more fun.
4. Then go back to your toilet paper roll and punch two holes on either side where you can insert the string for hanging.
5. Push the yarn through the holes and tie it up.
6. Get your cloud and glue it on the toilet paper roll.
7. Then, cut the colored tissue paper into long strips and glue them around the toilet paper roll.

Once done, it is ready to be hung!

Paper flower crafts

Making paper flower crafts is perfect for kids of all ages. Not only is it a fun activity but it also helps develop their fine motor skills.

These are the materials you’ll need for this craft:

• yellow paper
• circle paper punch
• scissors
• colored paper
• green paper straws
• stick glue
• clear or patterned tape

How to do it?

1. Guide your child when it comes to punching a few circles out of yellow paper using the puncher.
2. Cut strips of colored paper but make sure to pay attention to their size in relation to the yellow circles.
3. Then, make a paper loop by putting together the ends of the strips with glue. Depending on the flower you are making, you may need to make quite a few.
4. Have these loops glued on the side of the paper circle until it forms a flower.
5. The final step is to glue the green paper straw at the center of the flower and secure it with tape.

3D Rainbow Paper Craft

Making rainbow crafts is another activity your little one will surely enjoy. Because rainbows are made of different colors, this craft can be a wonderful opportunity to teach your child about colors. Here are the materials you need to make a 3D Rainbow Paper Craft.

• Construction paper in rainbow colors
• scissors
• cotton balls
• duct tape

This craft is very easy to make.

1. Cut 7 strips of paper, one strip of each color to make a true rainbow.
2. Then, cut out two cloud shapes using your white construction paper.
3. Arrange the strips according to the correct color order of the rainbow (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet, or the other way around) and glue one end on one cloud.
4. Then, glue the other end on the second cloud.
5. Use duct tape to secure both ends.
6. Fold the strips of paper following the line of the duct tape so it’s easier to make an arch.
7. Apply glue on the clouds and add cotton balls on both sides of the strips to hold the rainbow’s arched shape.

Once done with both clouds, your rainbow craft is complete!

There are plenty of fun and engaging crafts your kids can create this National Crafts Month! Feel free to explore some other crafts and use them as an exciting bonding activity with your kids!

Here is a fun craft for Valentine’s Day!