You’ve heard all about fine motor skills and the importance of practicing small muscle movements. It’s now time to use handy tools to get your child ready for writing skills. Here are some easy to use pre-writing fine motor skills with scissors including DIY scissor skills and activities!
If you have little ones that are the age of 2 and above, it’s time for some somewhat scary tools. That’s right — their little fingers are ready for fine motor skills with scissors. But, what scissors are safe, easy to use, and come highly recommended?
Safety Scissors and Usage
If your child is still practicing cutting skills, these round, plastic safe scissors claim to cut paper and playdough, but not hair or skin! The safety scissors are great for toddlers and preschoolers still in scissor skills training. Remember, learning scissor skills improves fine motor skills and hand and finger dexterity.
Some preschoolers that are ready for the next level or will be monitored while managing scissors should try blunt tip scissors. These small hands scissors come in a 2 pack and — you can even add their name! Plus, it has a handy measuring tool — a ruler. Recommended for ages 4 and up, your preschooler will love the design whether left or right-handed.
Cutting Exercises for Fine Motor Skills
Printing a few cutting worksheets makes it super easy for moms and teachers. Yet, here are some simple DIY tips on getting started on easy cutting exercises for fine motor skills. Using the image above, simply grab a fine tip marker and begin drawing a variety of lines for your eager toddler or preschooler. Some fine motor scissor examples are writing heart, square and circle shapes, zig-zag lines, and more. Need even more practice? Check out our Cutting Scissor Practice worksheets.
Scissor Skills Checklist
While this isn’t a comprehensive scissors skills checklist, it will give you heads up on where to start scissor fine motor skills with your toddler or preschooler.
- Age 2 – can cut one snip at a time
- Age 3- gains the ability to cut in a straight line
- Age 4 – mobility to cut with some accuracy a half of a foot with curved and straight lines
- Age 5 – begins cutting in shapes like squares, rectangles, and triangles without help
Best Paper Materials for Scissors
The best paper material for cutting lines on paper is colorful cardstock, index cards, and foam sheets. And, all of these paper style cutting tools make it much easier to hold with smaller hands.
The paper or foam won’t bend and fold over itself as your child is cutting, which will help for a greater chance of a successful experience. Half of all teaching is really building confidence in our children.
As shown in the scissor exercises with images, draw some straight lines using a ruler, write a few zig-zag patterns, and add a couple of bowed lines across the paper medium. Get creative — your preschooler will be proud as he cuts to the finish line! Make them as easy or as difficult as your child is ready for, just pay attention to their enthusiasm or frustration levels.
Another bright idea — use some jar lids or circular type shapes to help form the circles on foam sheets or stock paper. Ask your child to cut along the lines for more fine motor practice.
Or, try zig-zag patterns for more variety in scissor practice for preschoolers. Your eager child may be ready for more independence with this simple yet extremely effective fine motor exercise with scissors.
Activities to Strengthen Scissor Skills
If you’re looking for simple, DIY scissor skills to do at home or in the classroom, try these easy and fun activities to strengthen scissor fine motor skills.
- Cut Playdough – Roll different colors of playdough into a thin, long stick-type shape. Then, ask your child to use a pair of safe scissors to snip into 1-inch sizes.
- Your child can even squeeze and pinch the play dough before cutting for some hand and finger strengthening fun!
- Or, try a rainbow of colors with a plastic knife or safe scissors and cut in chunks for visually appealing activities!
- Cut a rainbow array of straws and discuss the pretty colors as your preschooler has fun cutting straws in 1-inch dimensions.
- With each color, ask your child to mimic 1-inch sizes with the appropriate safety scissors.
- Or, teach your child more efficiency and double up the straws! This is a great opportunity to discuss colors, sizes, and of course, clean up time. Try to keep a bowl or box close by for quick pick up!
More Easy Scissor Fine Motor Activities
Just when you think you’ve exhausted all of the scissor fine motor activities, we have more safe scissor ideas! Try grabbing some supplies right in your back yard! Go outside with the kiddos and find some beautifully colored leaves for an outdoor flavor.
Or, if the leaves are few and far between, try some long grass for fine motor cutting! After a few minutes of running around outside, your child will be ready to sit down and relax while cutting his masterpieces, literally. He or she could even glue them down on cardstock and put in a book to flatten for safekeeping!
Lastly, if you have some leftover strips of paper, there’s no sense in wasting them! Ask your preschooler to go to town as they make fringe with the extra pieces of cardstock or paper. It would make a great skirt for a baby doll or hat for a little one. Just grab some tape to secure the ends together.
Scissor Skill Worksheets
There are so many ways to incorporate fun and engaging fine motor activities with scissors. If your child is ready to learn the alphabet, you’ll love the Alphabet Cut and Paste Packet!
Designed for preschool, kindergarten, and 1st grade, your student will be thrilled to color, cut and paste with these letter paper collages. Display them proudly in the classroom or use them as sound books or flashcards for recycling ideas.
These preschool alphabet scissor activities include 52 pages of fine motor cutting sheets. Both pages include uppercase and lower case letters with helpful beginning sound pictures.
How to use Alphabet Cut and Paste Worksheets
How do you use these alphabet cut and paste worksheets? First, your student will color the shapes, then cut out the picture shapes. Easy peasy, right? Teachers can use these colored pictures to play sorting and matching games.
All of these free and affordable fine motor scissor activities will keep your kids occupied for hours. So, grab some easy and enjoyable scissor cutting ideas and get going with your growing preschooler!
Comment (1)
Awesome worksheet!