When you teach kids to cut with scissors, it can be quite difficult. There are many “parts” to scissor skills and cutting out a shape. Holding the scissors correctly, extending the wrist, grasping and turning the paper, opening and closing the scissors with precision, cutting along the line, and using graded cuts to stop and cut sharp corners and angles.
This simple trick to teaching kids to cut with scissors will help kids learn to hold and turn the paper with their assisting and non-dominant hand in order to accurately cut along lines, curves, corners, and angles.
This simple scissor skills trick is super easy to set-up and a creative way to build scissor skills, no matter what particular type of scissors are used.
Teach Kids to Cut with Scissors Using this Simple Trick
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When kids are learning to cut with scissors, one obstacle can sometimes be holding and turning the paper. In order to cut out shapes, one needs to hold the paper with their non-dominant and assisting hand.
They need to use bilateral coordination to use both hands together in a coordinated manner with integration of eye-hand coordination. The hands must come together at midline and manipulate the scissors and assisting hand together.
RELATED READ: The Ultimate Guide to Scissor Skills
When a child has difficulty holding the paper with a neutral or supinated wrist or maneuvering the assisting hand to hold and turn the paper, scissor skills can be problematic. Teaching kids to hold and move the non-dominant hand while they cut along a line may require verbal or visual cues for accuracy, yet sometimes continues to be problematic and result in inaccuracies with cutting skills.
This simple trick to teach kids to cut with scissors provides a visual and tactile cue for moving the non-dominant hand along the paper as they cut a line or shape.
It’s a simple way to improve bilateral coordination with visual motor integration of the non-dominant hand in a tasks that requires both hands working together smoothly.
RELATED READ: Scissor Skills Crash Course
Help kids turn the paper when cutting with scissors.
To help kids learn to hold the paper, simple place a piece of wax paper over the paper that they are cutting. They wax paper will allow them to see through to the line and they can practice holding and pinching the paper between their thumb and lateral index finger. Some lines may need darkened with a marker.
If kids are having trouble managing the paper and the wax paper, use a piece of tape to attach the wax paper to the main page. Leave the remaining sides open without tape to encourage pinching the wax paper to the page.
RELATED READ: Creative Ways to Work on Scissor Skills
Need more assistance to manipulate the paper with the non-dominant hand? Add visual cues of dots along the wax paper overlay using a permanent marker.
Looking for more scissor skill tricks and tips? Try these ideas:
