25 Fun Scissor Skills Activities

Learning to use scissors can be tricky for kids, but these fun scissor skills activities will help your children gain confidence and practice cutting with scissors in lots of engaging ways!

More than just cutting along lines, these fun cutting activities offer lots of different ways for preschoolers and older children to practice scissor skills.

Being able to cut with scissors is an important skill for your child to learn, not just so they can do arts and crafts, but also because scissor skills are part of important functional fine motor skills that allow children to do things like write, tie shoelaces, get dressed, and lots of other important life skills.

There are a lot of prerequisite skills that a child needs before they can be successful with scissors – hand strength, eye hand co-ordination, visual tracking skills (being able to visually follow a line), bilateral hand control (both hands working together) and more, and it takes time and practice to develop these skills.

One of the most important aspects of developing scissors skills is practice. Kids need to cut things, a lot of things, all different things, again and again.

Luckily there are lots and lots of fabulous and interesting scissor skills activities that make learning to cut with scissors meaningful and fun for kids.

Tips for Teaching Scissor Skills

Before you get started on these fun cutting activities for kids, there are few tips and tricks that will make teaching, and learning, scissors skills a bit easier!

• Before you start working on scissor skills make sure your child has done lots of fine motor activities to strengthen their hand muscles and work on all the skills needed to cut.  Try creating a holepunch collage, or set up an eye dropper activity tray.

• Provide good quality scissors with short metal blades, and a blunt tip for safety. Cheap scissors are hard to use, don’t cut well, and will cause frustration for everyone!

• If your child is left handed make sure to give them left handed scissors.

• Show your child how to hold scissors correctly, with their thumb in the small hole and fingers in the bigger hole and their thumb up.

• Stick a googly eye or a sticker on the top of the thumb hole of the scissors to remind your child where to put their thumb and which way to hold the scissors. You can pretend that the scissors are a hungry crocodile who’s eyes need to stay up above the water.

• Start with snipping and cutting stiff items such as straws, playdough, or cardstock

• Talk to your child about how to use scissors safely and appropriately. Remind them what is and isn’t ok to cut often.

• Make sure your child is sitting comfortably on a stable chair while cutting.

Scissor Skills Activities For Beginning Cutters

Young children who are just starting to learn to cut with scissors will start with snipping small pieces of stiff items. They need lots of fun, hands-on, cutting activities with lots and lots of different items to cut.

There are no lines or instructions to follow in these cutting activities for preschoolers, just lots of cutting, snipping, and practicing for those who are just beginning to master scissors.

Simple Strip Collage – strips of paper for little hands to cut and paste.

Cutting Practice Tray – quick, low mess set up for scissor skills

Sticky Cutting Tray – a low mess invitation to cut and stick.

Cutting flowers and leaves – a fun cutting activity and a super tip for getting the scissors the right way up.

Cutting Play Dough – a great first cutting activity from Frogs and Snails and Puppy Dog Tails

Cutting Straws – a simple cutting activity from Frogs Snails and Puppy Dogs Tails

Cutting Straws and Play Dough – combine straws, dough and scissors for loads of fun – from Fun Learning With Kids

Snipping Sammy Scissors – a fun snipping activity for little hands from Lalymom

Leaf Cutting Tray – This nature activity is great for some preschool cutting practice. From Happy Toddler Playtime.

Paper Plate Haircuts – a great preschool cutting activity from My Bored Toddler.

Cutting Strings of Beads – these simple cutting trays are a great scissor skill activity from Living Montessori Now.

Confetti Cutting Activity – this is a fabulous preschool cutting activity from How Wee Learn.

Scissor Skills Activities For More Skillful Cutters

As your child gains more confidence and skill with scissors it is time to work on refining those skills.

These cutting activities include cutting along lines, following directions, and gaining confidence for those kids who are starting to get pretty good with scissors.

Making snowflakes and star bursts – an easy activity for those who need some cutting practice.

Paper cut out chains – more than just paper dolls for those who need a challenge!

Crazy photo collage – cut out photos to make crazy pictures (free printable to get you started)

Make a paper snail – cutting out this printable template to make a snail is a fun way to work on scissor skills.

Practicing Scissor Skills with Recycled Artwork – this is a fun activity to try out all different kids of scissors. From Preschool Inspirations.

Cutting Catalogs for a Book – make your own book! – From Hands on As We Grow

Make a Sun Scissor Activity – this is a great cutting activity and craft for preschoolers who are getting more confident with scissors. From a Dab of Glue Will Do.

Tape mazes cutting activity – this cutting practice activity is perfect for kids who are getting more skillful. From The Inspired Treehouse.

Paper feather craft – fringing is great for refining control – from A Little Pinch of Perfect.

Cutting patterns in feathers – this cutting activity using real feathers is quite a challenge. From Mother Natured.

Cutting Hair Styles – Using some free printables – not cutting real hair! From Krokotac

Paper Flower Craft – Work on refining scissor skills with this cupcake liner craft from Crafts on Sea.

Name Snowflakes – for kids who are really up for a challenge! From Childhood101

More Fun Fine Motor Activities.

These scissor skills activities are great for working on fine motor skills, and these fine motor activities are great for working on scissors skills! So if you are working on scissor skills with your kids, give one of these fine motor ideas a go too!