Do you know how important it is for children to use scissors at an early age?

It’s suggested that children actually start using scissors at the age of two. If this skill is learned at that age, then by the age of three or four, the child will be able to progress with handwriting skills.

Scissors are a great way to build up the small muscles of the hand to prepare for holding a pencil. It also is a great way to build hand-eye coordination.

Hand-eye coordination is used in so many activities in a childs life such as, throwing and catching a ball, zipping up their jacket, using eating utensils and so much more.

By using scissors, they are using their vision to cut along the intended area. When cutting they are using bilateral coordination because they have to use both hands to manipulate paper and scissors.

Children that have been introduced to using scissors and build the hand eye coordination along with the small muscle strength tend to be able to learn the next step in fine motor skill training.

How to start you child on their scissor skills

1. The first step is do let your child hold the scissors and learn the hand motion to open and close them.
2.  Once they are able to do that, let them hold the scissors while you hold a piece of paper for them to cut. Doing this will let them feel comfortable with holding and the pressure of the cutting. By holding the paper for them in the beginning, you are not confusing them with the bilateral skills they need to cut a piece of paper.
3. To start the bilateral coordination, let them snip off the corners of a piece of paper.
4. Start with thinner paper items such as tracing paper, then move on to regular notebook paper, then to manila type paper.
5. Once they are ready to move on, use paper with simple lines. Be sure to use thick dark lines for them to follow.
6. Move on to cutting square shapes, then on to circles,