You might not agree with me, but I think children should be taught the basics of scissor skills at home and not at school, and here’s why . ..
As an Occupational Therapist I am always surprised at how many parents wait for their pre-schooler to go to school to learn how to use a pair of scissors, rather than introducing them at home. This is usually because scissors are often seen as dangerous and parents worry that they are sharp, clothes and hair might get cut, including fingers! Which is all true, but, most of your sharp items are normally kept out of reach of little hands anyway, so why can’t scissors be too when they are not being used under supervision?
It is much safer to introduce the basics of scissors at home in a supervised way, where it is “reasonably” quiet and calm ? Ok a house with a pre-schooler is never really calm, but it certainly is compared to a whole class of them! Most reception classes have around 28+ kids with a class teacher and class assistant. The scissors in schools are blunt and generally safe, and are normally kept out of reach. But teaching them basic tips at home is a good starting point for them.
Ideally, a child should have a “hand dominance” before learning how to use scissors, mostly because you need to know if you need right or left handed scissors. I have seen so many kids who are left handed only having access to right handed scissors! But hand dominance might not be 100% clear before starting school, and that is ok. Just observe your child and see which hand they have a “preference” for, this might change over time until their hand dominance is fully established. Which hand do they take a toy from you with, which hand do they use a spoon with or point with?
A few other tips to think about when teaching your child some basic scissor skills tips this summer:-
- There are lots of scissors to try, normally they will have an age guideline on them, but generally when first starting out you need ones that have blunt or rounded ends. Playdough scissors are nice to start with or “easy opening” scissors. Easy Opening scissors spring back open once closed. But normal blunt ended pre-school scissor can be found in most toy shops, large supermarkets etc. Just make sure they are right or left handed, depending on which one you need.
- Remind your child to always sit at the table with an adult when learning to cut at home, and have the blades point away from them.
- Hold the scissors with their thumb on top, in the first hole and their index finger (and possibly their middle finger too) in the bottom hole. Keeping your “thumb up” keeps the blades in the correct position for cutting.
- I use basic language when teaching scissor skills “open” and “close”. Place your hand over your child’s if they allow it, and say "open and close" as the blades move. Repeat these 3 words over and over, to help your child internalise it.
- Snip pieces off a straw to start with. The straw is easy to support with the helping hand, but your child might benefit from you holding the straw to start with so they can just focus on opening and closing the blades. Later get them to hold the straw and cut at the same time.
- Next you could use coloured paper or thin card/ cereal boxes (as this again is easy to support). Initially make the long strips about one snip wide, then two snips wide and so on.
- I nice tip: when you are next decorating your house, some colour charts have a white line in-between each colour to snip between!
NB: If your child is not able to sit and concentrate for table top activities, or won’t listen to the instructions when using scissors then your child might not be ready to use scissors at this time. Not all children develop at the same time, and this is OK.