Cut It Out! The Importance of Learning Scissor Skills

It's a sad state of affairs when you bring a group of girls between the ages of 12 and 18 and more than half of them can't cut a straight line! Friends, learning scissor skills as a child is really important. Here's why.

Scissor Skills Help with Coordination

Learning to use scissors properly is a fine motor skill. Like using a pencil or crayon, the user must hold the scissors properly and manipulate them just so to have the desired result. Children exercise their tiny hand muscles as they open and close the scissors and learn important coordination skills at the same time.

Cutting helps with eye-hand coordination because it requires the eyes to track the movement of the scissors along the line. Bilateral coordination is also needed to be skillful at using scissors. For example, one hand will need to hold and turn the paper while the other hand works the scissors.

Motor planning is another aspect of using scissors. North Shore Pediatric Therapy says this about motor planning:

Motor planning is the ability to conceive, plan, and carry out a skilled, non-habitual motor act in the correct sequence from beginning to end. Incoming sensory stimuli must be correctly integrated in order to form the basis for appropriate, coordinated motor responses. The ability to motor plan is a learned ability which is generalized to all unfamiliar tasks so a child does not need to consciously figure out each new task he or she faces.

As children practice scissor skills, they are exercising many key components to their learning and development.

How to Teach Scissor Skills

First, you need the right pair of scissors. I like Fiskars because they can be purchased with a blunt tip which is safe for beginners.

You may want to mark the thumb hole on the pair of scissors. You can put a little dot of nail polish or paint to help your little one remember which hole the thumb goes in! Remember, the thumb hole is always pointing upwards.

Cutting cardstock is a good way to start. Cardstock will have a bit more stability than regular paper. Begin by having your child cut along thick, straight lines. After they begin to feel comfortable with cutting a straight line, try curves and wavy lines.

After cardstock, try other mediums such as regular paper, tissue paper, or even fabric! [Need an extension activity for older kids? Consider learning to cut out a pattern for a pair of jammy pants or other fun sewing project!]

Lastly, try having your little ones cut out some simple shapes. Make sure the shape is rather large in the beginning. I suggest circles, triangles, and hearts. Keep using cardstock, if needed. You want these new learners to feel successful!

Your Thoughts?

How about you? What activities have you used to teach your little ones scissor skills? How about teaching scissor skills with the older kids? Another idea for the older ones might include making snowflakes or learning the German Art of paper cutting called Scherenschnitte!

I love to hear from you, my dear friends! Please share with me your super-scissor-skill teaching ideas in the comments below!

-Andrea