Leprechaun Scissor Practice

I am a preschool teacher, but I would venture to guess that you would have a hard time finding any sort of children's scissors in my house.  There must be one pair here, but believe me...we aren't using them with any regularity.  That's why you send your kids to preschool, right!?

Well, this is a scissor practice sheet that I have put together for my preschoolers in honor of the upcoming St. Patrick's Day holiday...and because the idea of doing anything wintery could force me to pull my hair out.  Shoot...I may even print out an extra copy and try it with my own preschooler at home...that is if I can find those silly scissors.  :-) 

Turn on "teacher voice"

 

Do you want to know why scissor skills are so important? 

• The same muscles that help move those blades up and down will also help us write one day. 
• Watching a line and guiding our hand to follow it, forces us to develop hand-eye coordination.
• Using a scissor requires children to use both sides of their body at the same time.  One hand is cutting while the other hand is holding and guiding the paper.  This bilateral coordination is an important skill for overall development. 

This practice sheet is also designed to encourage kiddos to work from left to right which is a pre-reading skill.  It also encourages working from top to bottom.

 

The bottom "shamrock snip" is a confidence booster.  This section, not matter how the child may have struggled along the St. Patty's Day paths, should be fun and quick for any child to complete.  Even though it may not be as difficult, it is still encouraging that muscle development.

 

 

So, go grab those scissors and let your little ones cut.  I promise that the more you do it, the more comfortable everyone will be.