Using scissors to cut is a complex task. It requires a number of movement skills including

• Hand eye coordination
• Use of both hands together
• Shoulder Stability
• Balance and the ability to isolate movements of the fingers and thumb!
  -Children are usually ready to start cutting by the age of three.
  -Before starting cutting practice ensure that the
  child is:
• sitting with his or her feet flat on the floor
• using two hands – one hand should hold the paper while the other cuts
• looking at what they are doing – this is essential.

GAMES AND ACTIVITIES FOR PRE-SCISSOR DEVELOPMENT

If your child needs more practice to be able to
hold the scissors properly, and to open and close
them these activities will help develop the hand
skills required.

Tearing and scrunching paper for paper mache work or collage pictures.

• Squeezing empty plastic bottles to make bubbles in water, or to blow feathers and ping pong balls across the table.
  *Using finger or glove puppets.
  *Use salad servers or tongs to pick up cotton
  wool balls or plastic toys from a bucket and to
  transfer them into another container in a relay race.
• Play dough – rolling and pinching to make
  animals and cakes.
• Finger rhymes eg Incy Wincey Spider, two little
  dickey birds, five little ducks.
  *Lego and construction activities.
  *Swinging from monkey bars in the playground and holding on when swinging are good for
  hand strength.
• Using water pistols or
  squeezy bottles with water to spray foam off balloons or make bubbles in water uses the squeezy action
  required to operate scissors.