The children in Preschool 1 have recently been developing their cutting skills by engaging in various activities involving scissors. Before the activities began, everyone was given a safety lesson on how to handle scissors and informed that they are only meant for cutting paper. During one of the activities, the children were given the choice of a fall coloured leaf, with pre-drawn lines on them. The children attempted to follow the lines, by using short and long snips. Some of the older children were successful with this task, as they have had some experience using scissors before. The younger children, where this was their first experience using this tool, needed a little more support and encouragement.
During another activity, the children helped an educator cut tissue paper into small squares, to be used in another art experience. This encounter with scissors seemed a littler easier for the children to complete, as the tissue paper was a lighter material to get through. The children were able to hold the strips of tissue in one hand while snipping through the tissue with the scissors.
A third activity incorporated dramatic play with fine motor skills, by giving the classroom babies some haircuts! A baby was given to each child, with “pretend hair” made from construction paper. The children meticulously used the scissors to cut the paper, they strengthened their hand-eye coordination as they cut through their baby’s hair making sure they were using it safely and giving their babies a good haircut!
These experiences had the children engaged throughout each activity, making as many snips in the paper as they could. Those who needed help, welcomed the support and were open to an educator showing them how to hold the scissors properly and how to operate the cutting tool. A sense of pride was seen throughout the activities, as the children would hold up their papers showing off their hard work. Everyone was welcome to participate in the tasks and were able to communicate with the educators when help was needed.
