Have a Cutting Party!

Let your kiddos cut! 

Children need to be comfortable cutting, in order to stay on task and work efficiently once they start "real work" in school. To prepare, give them the opportunity to learn how to operate scissors, cut on straight lines and follow curvy ones. Space these "lessons" out and make it fun - success will not be achieved in one sitting :)

• First, have them learn the grip and motion of the scissors - open and shut, little "bites."
• Use strips of paper just wide enough for a little scissor to cut, and help your child feel success in cutting it up. 
• Next, use snakes of play dough or drinking straws for cutting practice, to give some resistance.
• Then, you can draw lines on paper or have them draw the lines and cut along them! 
• When they are getting good, use stencils to trace around shapes and then cut them out!
• Old magazines are treasure troves - pick a theme for a collage and cut away! (Get some glue stick practice in, too, when you glue them all on a piece of paper!)

Make it fun!! Pull out the toy catalogs and the coupon pages - let them go crazy cutting with no real goal in mind. Steer them in the right way to grip the scissors, making sure that their thumbs are placed correctly on top.

Introduce the "helper hand" to hold the paper that they are cutting, in order to manipulate the paper as needed. 

One teacher friend pulls out the party hats and calls it a "cutting party!" Whatever goofy trick it takes to make it fun for your little ones, try it out! The more practice they get, the easier cutting will be for them down the line!

Thanks to my friend, Kelly, for her great cutting tips! Have fun!