Before a child can experience success with a new skill, like using scissors, they must be developmentally ready to attain that skill.  Here are some simple & safe pre-scissor readiness tips to get little hands ready for using scissors by tapping into the development of eye-hand coordination, bilateral hand skills (using hands together in a dominant-assistant fashion), and the ability to isolate and/or combine movements of the thumb and opposing fingers to allow for opening and closing scissors with control.

1. Toys with tongs

Using tongs help to teach separation of the radial (thumb) and ulnar (pinky) sides of the hand that is necessary when a child starts to use scissors.  It also works on strengthening the muscles used when opening & closing scissors. Some favorites are Patch Bed Bugs and Learning Resources Super Sorting Pie.

2. Tearing paper

Tearing and pasting projects are great for small children.  Tearing the paper into small pieces helps develop bilateral hand skills.  Tree collages work great in both the Spring & Autumn.  In the spring, I have children tear pieces of tissue paper, crumble them, then glue the “blossoms” onto tree branches.  In the Autumn, I have children tearing small pieces of orange, green, brown, and yellow paper and gluing them onto tree branches and falling to the ground.

3.  Lacing cards

Lacing cards promote eye-hand coordination and bilateral hand skills.  Melissa & Doug make a variety of fun lacing card sets.  You can also make your own lacing cards by laminating different designs or shapes and having a child help you use a hole puncher (great for hand strength) around the perimeter then use a string to lace through.

4. Pinching Play Doh 

Playing with Play Doh has so many benefits!  Having children pinch Play Doh between their fingers works on isolating finger movements and strengthening the little muscles in their hands.

5. Puppets with moveable mouths

A fun way to incorporate pretend play while working on the separation of the the sides of the hand, as the thumb is isolated and moves in opposition to the other fingers to open and close the mouth of the puppet.

                              Fiskar Scissors →

When your preschooler is ready for scissors, the scissors I  recommend for little hands are called Fiskar scissors that can be used for right or left handed children.  Choose the ones with the rounded or blunt tips.

Some simple guidelines as to what ages early scissor skills develop are snipping paper (2 years old), cutting across a piece of paper (2.5 – 3 years old), cutting on lines (4-5 years old) and cutting out simple shapes (5 years old).

Try these printable scissor work sheets for children to practice their early cutting skills.

–Sari Ockner, OTR/L