Using Scissors

Kids are capable of cutting with child-appropriate scissors from a very early age (2 years old), and last week we witnessed this adorable toddler hold his scissors properly AND cut on his own! It was amazing to watch!

Every teacher will thank you if you allow your kids time to practice cutting. It is a skill we take for granted and yet, I just saw a post from an 8th-grade teacher saying she has several students each year who are not able to cut well with scissors!

Our suggestions for helping your kids use scissors:

Use good kid-friendly scissors, like Fiskars or Scotch brands. There are left-handed scissors available for kids, too!

Start with easy paper to cut - such as tissue paper, receipts, junk mail flyers or one of my favorites - go outside and let them cut blades of grass!

Draw a smiley face on the thumbnail of their dominant hand (or put a small sticker on it) and tell them to look for the smiley face as they’re using their scissors. This will help them align their hand.

Suggest that they turn the paper, rather than turning their hand to cut at different angles.

It’s a great goal to try have your child feeling at least comfortable holding scissors by the time they enter kindergarten.