Being told you can’t go with Daddy is tough at 9am on a Friday morning.
It’s tough on the three year old who cries and cries, and tough on the Mum who is left to try and make things better.
Making it better was going to require some really awesome distraction on my part and I had to do it fast! Thankfully my brain was switched on this morning and I remembered my boy’s current interest in scissors… BINGO!
I gathered the things I would need…
- A tray to contain the mess
- Some strips of paper left over from our strip collage activity
- Some small squares of paper with very simple lines drawn on them
- Some junk mail cut into smaller bits
- A basket to put the pieces in
- Some scissors
When I was about half way through getting everything I needed he stopped crying and was watching me. By the time I put the scissors on the tray and took a quick photo he was climbing onto the chair saying “Can I cut all of this???”
The tears were gone, distraction complete!
Noah is just beginning to get a handle on cutting. He’s been keen to use scissors for a long time, and has been slowly learning to cut, but only recently has he become more successful and less frustrated. His technique is still a little wild, and every now and then I remind him to keep his ‘thumb on the top’, but he has mastered holding the paper while he cuts and has some control over his snips so all that is left now is to practice, practice, practice!
Giving him smallish pieces of paper make it easier for him to co-ordinate the paper and the scissors.
- Thin strips are easy for small, fast snips, without any frustration.
- Small squares with very basic lines drawn on them give him a challenge to cut following the line if he would like to, but are still small enough to be easily manipulated while he cuts.
- Junk mail or magazine pages give him some fun images to cut out if he chooses, and cutting them into small pieces to begin with helps him to manipulate what is often more flimsy paper.
Giving him opportunities like this where he can just cut whatever he likes in whatever way he likes without any other agenda will help him refine his skills and increase his confidence, and it was the perfect distraction activity!
Looks like he’s doing a fantastic job!
Just looking at this makes my blood pressure rise…. :(
My daughter has just turned 4. We’ve tried using scissors a few times, but she can’t hold them properly and gets irritated with me when I try and help her. :(
If she can’t do something, she just gives up instantly. I’m definitely the opposite of that and have never instilled that in her, so I think that’s just her temperament.
I will try some of your cutting suggestions.
It’s so hard having a perfectionist daughter at such a young age!
She starts kindy next year – good luck to her teachers!
AH my older boy was just like that at that age! At first I tried to help – I put googly eyes on the top of the scissors, even bought scissors that spring open on their own… but he just got more and more frustrated so I just let it go. He learned to cut just fine, eventually, on his own terms! LOL
my daughter took to cutting quite well, my 4 year old son however loves cutting but when he does it it looks like he could lose a finger! He just hasnt managed to master the skill quite yet and although i want him to practice and learn its scary haha!!!! I do hold my breathe however and let him do it – he will learn one day!
Good morning,
If you do finger exercises with your little ones like giving them a small ball, play dough, or just Simon say’s Open Shut Them ( there little hands) their little muscles need to limber up.
Now another distraction, during this busy time of year (Holidays) my grandson (3years old) wants grandmo to play, play, play. I do but sometimes I am not able so I save the toy inserts the stores send out and give them a marker and write his name on top. I then have him look at them and circle, box, or put a triangle around the things he wants Santa to bring, but you can do this for birthdays too. I did this for my kids (all 5 of them) and it kept them busy for about 45-1 hour. They get so involved in seeing all the toys.
Worked(s) for me.
My nearly 3 has just started to try the scissors but is a bit all over the place when comes to holding them. I read a tip about starting out cutting play dough but haven’t tried it yet.
As for distraction I find a hug normally fixes most things
Lots of GREAT ideas for scissor skills—but just wanted to caution about photos where the child’s “assist hand” is “thumb under” the paper. This is a big no-no for building efficient skills :(
As a pediatric OT, I always prompt with “thumbs up” — both cutting hand and assist hand—which puts both wrists in neutral position, and gets the paper off the table, with scissors pointing upward— “like a rocket ship taking off”. This will also encourage better upper body posture of sitting up—rather than flexing upper body downward toward the table surface.
Happy cutting!!