Cutting, like drawing, is a skill that develops as a child’s fine motor skills matures. The more control children have over the scissors in their hands, the more complex their cutting skills become.

 
When children begin to cut with scissors, teach them to hold scissors correctly with their elbows close to their bodies and their hand turned so their thumb is on top.

• At ages 3-4, children can usually cut paper in half in more or less a straight line.
• Between 4-5 years using a pair of scissors, children should be able to cut out a big circle with scissors; and a 10cm square within 0.5cm accuracy.

We practised our cutting as we made some paper snowflakes.

Colour in a circular piece of paper.

Fold the paper into quarters and cut out some shapes along the edges.
To scaffold N, I drew some triangles for him to cut out.

Unfold the paper and you’ve got yourself a cut out snowflake.

 
To make it easier, use stiff paper rather than flimsy paper.

 
Remember ‘thumbs up’ – (hold paper with thumbs up, hold scissors with thumbs up).

 
Keep scissors pointing away from body, not parallel to tummy.

N: 3 years, 9 months.

March 2012

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