If you need a preschool scissor skills activity, then this Christmas cutting craft is for you. Based on the beginning scissor skills of cutting through a page, the Christmas tree cutting activity helps young learners to hold scissors perpendicularly on the page while cutting through the paper (and not tearing the paper!) It’s a fun way to work on skills this time of year!
Christmas Tree Cutting Activity
Christmas Tree Scissor Skills Craft for kids
How to make paper Christmas Trees
- Green Paper
- Brown Paper
- Scissors
- A Marker
to cut triangles.
2. Draw short lines on a strip of Brown Cardstock
3. Next, have the child to glue the trunks onto the green triangles.
Christmas Handwriting Activities
Writing out that Christmas wish list is a difficult task that brings out tears instead of holiday excitement. I’ve got a solution for your kiddo with handwriting difficulties: a packet of modified paper for all of the Christmas handwriting tasks that come up each year. Use this handwriting pack to help kids who struggle with handwriting to participate in holiday traditions while even working on and developing their handwriting skills!
Working on handwriting with kids this Christmas season? Grab your copy of the Christmas Modified Handwriting Packet. It’s got three types of adapted paper that kids can use to write letters to Santa, Thank You notes, holiday bucket lists and much more…all while working on handwriting skills in a motivating and fun way! Read more about the adapted Christmas Paper here.
How to Use these Christmas Trees To Work on Scissor Skills
So, after you’ve shown a learner how to cut simple Christmas trees using the cut-through method that we’ve covered above, how can you use this activity to build on motivation as a meaningful task?
Having “buy-in” or a reason for completing an activity is part of the way to develop skills through meaningful and motivating activities. When we show the learner that we can use the Christmas trees that they’ve cut to create a card or craft that can be given to a loved one, we immediately get that buy-in so they want to put forth their best effort.
- Use the paper Christmas trees to create a homemade Christmas card that builds fine motor skills.
2. You can also use these Christmas Trees in a math activity. This activity strengthens the hands as well by using a hole punch to count. It’s a great activity to build on the scissor skills task.
3. Use the paper Christmas trees in decorations by clipping them with clothes pins or paper clips to string them across the room in a Christmas garland.
Then, to further develop the hand strength needed to hold and cut across a page with scissors, work on the fine motor strength to strengthen hands that cut with scissors, try making this clothes pin Christmas tree.
There are many ways to develop fine motor skills through play and this scissor skills Christmas tree is just one of those activities for this time of year. Grab more creative activities in our post on Christmas fine motor activities.
Looking for done-for you therapy activities this holiday season?
This print-and-go Christmas Therapy Kit includes no-prep, fine motor, gross motor, self-regulation, visual perceptual activities…and much more… to help kids develop functional grasp, dexterity, strength, and endurance. Use fun, Christmas-themed, motor activities so you can help children develop the skills they need.
This 100 page no-prep packet includes everything you need to guide fine motor skills in face-to-face AND virtual learning. You’ll find Christmas-themed activities for hand strength, pinch and grip, dexterity, eye-hand coordination, bilateral coordination, endurance, finger isolation, and more.
Colleen Beck, OTR/L has been an occupational therapist since 2000, working in school-based, hand therapy, outpatient peds, EI, and SNF. Colleen created The OT Toolbox to inspire therapists, teachers, and parents with easy and fun tools to help children thrive. Read her story about going from an OT making $3/hour (after paying for kids’ childcare) to a full-time OT resource creator for millions of readers. Want to collaborate? Send an email to contact@theottoolbox.com.
