BEGINNING SCISSOR EXERCISES

Before children begin any structured cutting tasks, let them develop a feel for scissors by allowing them to do some random cutting. Let them snip and cut small pieces of paper into smaller pieces until they are comfortable using them. I personally recommend you use the best quality children´s scissors you can find. Children become frustrated quickly when their scissors "don´t work" and they will not feel successful. Once they are comfortable opening and closing the blades of their scissors, have them cut along a straight line drawn on a piece of paper. Advance to a swivel line when the child is ready to "steer" their scissors. When comfortable with that the child can attempt to follow the line on a geometric shape.