Never Run with Scissors
Never run with scissors. Ok maybe for many of us the last two words are not even necessary . 🙂 Just had to throw a joke in there ! And randomly , isnt today a beautiful day ?
Today we talked about scissors and how to keep safe when we are using them. Since I am sending a pair home with you tomorrow for Fun Friday I thought I would share those points with you.
Always sit when we cut . We don’t stand or kneel on our knees in a chair . ( We might fall out of the chair and on the scissors! )
Keep the blades pointed away from our body.
Keep scissors on table to cut.
Never point scissors at a friend.
Keep scissors away from clothing , faces and hair.
When not using the scissors, keep them shut.
Cutting is still awkward for some of the littles. Ideal hand placement is thumb on top and 3-4 fingers under in bottom hole. Sometimes it is helpful to draw a little smily face on your child’s thumb nail to remind them to keep the smile on top. Also, today our scissors had eyes on top as a reminder. If I get time, your child’s take home scissors will also.
Two things that help children strengthen fine motor skills for cutting are paper ripping and playdoh.
When children first start cutting the easiest thing for them to practice on would be playdoh. Roll it into a snake and let them cut the snake into pieces. Also, using heavier paper is easier to cut than regular paper. Cardstock doesnt bend and is easier to manipulate for cutting.
After mastering cutting playdoh ( or ribbon pieces ) a child sometimes is ready to move on to cutting straight lines.
Even later the skill for cutting crooked lines and curves comes with practice. Children think they need to maneuver the scissors to cut when actually its the paper that gets manipulated.
After everyone had an opportunity to talk about scissor safety and practice the scissors were placed in the art center as promised. YIKES ! Here’s to no hair cuts at Ms Debbies ! 🙂
( PLEASE PLEASE still consider scissor use at home as a supervised activity . )
Another thing I noticed today was some relationship building. There were lots of buddies everywhere. Life is good.
