The number one crafting item at our house these days (and many days before that!) is scissors. Our three-year-old, who is wonderfully responsible with these, will cut just about anything! And fortunately, she is quite good at asking for permission prior to cutting something new, so I am thankful to report that, to date, we have avoided any serious mishaps. With a snip here and a snip there, she will add her special touch on anything from paper and plastic to cardboard and thread. And as she has been quite diligent about her habit these days, I have observed how her fine motor abilities have really increased in this area.
If you have any young children who are ready for some fun with scissors,
you might consider a few things that we have learned along the way:
Provide a pair of child's scissors that are appropriate for her hand size and are a comfortable fit when considering her hand preference.
Make the scissors readily available if you think your child is ready for this step. Right now, we have her scissors in a decorative pail that we keep either at her easel or in her play area in the kitchen. This would also be a good time to lay some ground rules for the use of scissors.
Provide a variety of scissors. I purchased a number of Fiskars scissors years ago, but I noticed that a number of sets are available on Amazon, such as these Kraft Edger scissors sold by Wayfair. Our little one has such fun trimming the edges of her crafts with a variety of decorative edges!Provide plenty of material for cutting. Try to think outside the box on this one. A stack of white paper is not terribly exciting, but a small assortment of colored sheets is much more interesting! Also, try writing things on some of the papers for your little one, or draw interesting lines and shapes for them to cut out. And, of course, you can prepare a craft ahead of time that would allow for more structured cutting.
Offer some instruction on cutting, but try to allow for a little room to get comfortable with these new crafting tools in their hands. They may not do it perfectly at first, but they'll get better with lots of fun practice!
Enlist the help of your little one as soon as you think they can safely cut things for you. For instance, tonight I left a new puzzle for our little ones to discover in the morning. Instead of removing the packaging, as I would normally have done, I left it on there and will let her open it for us!
Encourage your little one to clean up after herself. This is a tricky one. I definitely think that little ones need to learn to clean up after themselves, but if you have had any experience with a budding scissor user, then you know that tiny little scraps will end up all over your kitchen floor! I encourage her to clean as it's appropriate, but I definitely help out with this one. I want to make sure to encourage her craftiness, not to discourage it by making her do more than she's able. We have also started keeping a scrap box nearby to aid in clean-up.
And needless to say, make sure to supervise your little one . Safety (and the avoidance of a hair styling mishap) comes first!
