Preschoolers love to use scissors and practice this new skill. Learning how to use scissors and cut takes a lot of time, and parents can offer scissor skill printables to help give their kids plenty of practice.
My kids love using scissors, and I’ve found that if you don’t give them appropriate places to practice their new found love, they’ll cut things they shouldn’t like their hair or cloth.
I learned that the hard way!
Now, I keep plenty of cutting strips and scissor printables for my kids when they feel the need to cut. Having plenty of activities available for them helps them learn this skill even faster!
Related: Teach Scissor Skills by Cutting Play-Doh
When Should My Child Learn How to Use Scissors?
Start introducing scissor skills to your child when they are two years old, but this is a skill that takes a lot of time. Typically, kids don’t master scissor skills until closer to six or seven years old. It’s a skill that preschoolers and kindergarteners spend a lot of time working on in school.
The reason that it takes so long to master this skill is that scissors are a fine motor skill and involve a lot of work. Opening and closing the scissors requires hand dexterity, and they have to use hand to eye coordination to watch the line as they cut slowly.
The best thing that parents can do is offer plenty of practice for their kids throughout the years. Let your child cut out their crafts and work on scissor skill printables, or you can even let your child just cut for fun. It all works towards developing the necessary scissor skills!
Tips for Teaching Cutting
1 . Make sure you ALWAYS give your child safety scissors at a young age. These are plastic scissors that cut paper, but won’t cut their skin, hair, (or any other precious items in your home).
2. Make sure that they’re holding the paper with their helper hand as they cut with the dominant hand. This may not be a natural motion for young ones so just place your hands on theirs to assist them with figuring this out.
This will help them to develop bilateral coordination, which is using both of their hands together at the same time.
3. Always position the paper in front of them while they are cutting. Some kids may accidentally hold the paper off to the side or way up high.
4. Make sure that their arms, shoulders, and elbows are down and relaxed as they cut right in front of them. As they’re concentrating, children tend to hike up their elbows and cut up high. Keep their elbows relaxed.
5. Be sure that they’re keeping their thumb up on both hands when cutting. The helper hand on the paper should be thumb up, as well as the hand that is cutting with the scissor.
16 Scissor Skill Printables
Here are some fun ways to get your little ones learning how to hold and cut with a scissor properly.
1. Winter Cutting Strips for Preschoolers
I created a set of winter cutting strips, perfect for preschoolers and kindergarteners. You can grab a free sheet here and the full set on my Teachers Pay Teachers site! I also have plenty of other winter printables your preschooler will love!
Related: Winter Fine Motor and Coloring Sheets for Toddlers – Free Printable
2. Simple Cutting Strips
If your child is just learning how to use scissors, the best thing you can do is give them some simple cutting strips. These are easy to print and create for your child. Use different colored cardstock to give the strips a new look. I keep a basket of cutting strips for my kids at their art desk for free practice whenever they want!
3. Cutting Printables by Melissa & Doug
Head over to Melissa & Doug’s website to grab two totally free scissor skill printables. They have a simple lined cutting sheet and this shapes one that is better for kids who are a bit more experienced using scissors.
4. Unicorn and Rainbows Cutting Printables
If you have a little girl who is obsessed with rainbows and unicorns like mine, she will go nuts over this idea for scissor skills. You need some sticker paper to create the unicorns and rainbows, and then you make the strips yourself with a marker.
It’s so easy!
5. Busy Bee Scissor Skill Printable
Are you studying bees with your child in the springtime? Bees are fascinating and important creatures in the world, and these bee-themed scissor skill printables will go perfect with a unit study for preschoolers. This set includes four sheets totally for free!
6. Valentine’s Day Cutting Practice Printables
If you’re looking for some learning activities for your preschooler or toddler on Valentine’s Day, print off some of these cutting printables. It has zig-zags, straight lines, and curvy ones to work on those important fine motor skills!
7. Rainbow Scissor Skill Printables
If your printer isn’t working or you want a simple activity to make, this cutting practice idea can be made with construction paper and a marker. However, if you don’t want to make it yourself, you can grab the free printable option instead. You’ll want to have some colored cardstock or construction paper in your printer to make the rainbow.
8. Fruits ands Vegetables Cutting Practice
Whether your kids love playing with their play food or you’re studying a unit on fruits and veggies, these cutting practice printable worksheets are perfect. The set includes four sheets for your child to use with their scissors; they’ll love them!
9. Fall Cutting Strips
Bring in all the fall activities with these fall-themed cutting strips. This set includes 11 strips for your child to use; print out a few sets, and you’ll have plenty of your child to work on while you have other fall activities.
10. Christmas Scissor Skills Printable
These adorable Christmas-themed cutting practice printables will keep your child entertained. If your child is older, they may be able to cut out the shapes themselves. If not, you will have to cut them out, and then let your child cut on the dotted lines.
Related: Christmas Dot Activities Free Printable
11. Santa’s Beard Christmas Scissor Skills Activity
If you’re looking for another Christmas cutting practice idea, try cutting Santa’s beard! This multicultural printable is perfect for everyone, and the lines are straight and zig-zagged, so your child works even more on their fine motor skills.
Related: Christmas Tissue Paper Wreathe Fine Motor Activity
12. Cutting Practice Strips
If you want a simple set of cutting strips, this is perfect for you. The set contains horizontal lines, vertical lines, zigzag lines, and curvy lines, and you receive three printable pages. Each page is a bit more challenging to help you meet your child’s fine motor needs. The cutting strips are available in black and white and colored.
13. Silly Hair Salon Scissor Practice
Your little child will love this silly idea for scissor practice – a hair salon! Give the faces a silly hair style with their scissors, and you can make them yourself or print them out.
14. Pet Themed Scissor Skills Practice
Is your preschooler obsessed with all things pets and dogs? These scissor skill printables are all things pets, and they offer different options for your learner. You’ll find vertical line cutting strips and zigzagged lined cutting strips. They also have shapes to cut out as well.
15. Race Car Scissor Skill Printables
If you have a little boy who is all about cars, then he will love these race car themed cutting sheets. The set includes three pages of cutting practice, and the lines are varied. There are horizontal lines, curvy lines, and zig-zagged.
16. Spider Scissor Practice Sheets
Spiders fit perfectly during Halloween, so if you want a spooky cutting activity, grab this set of spider printables. It’s perfect for quiet time, and you can print several copies to keep your child entertained. Add it to your Halloween activities!
Related: Halloween Coloring and Dot Printables
If your preschooler or kindergartener needs to practice their cutting skills, grab some of these scissor skill printables; they’re sure to be a hit!
