Scissor Skills Practice in Nature

Giving your toddler or preschooler plenty of opportunity to become comfortable with scissors is a simple way that you can help prepare them for writing. The same small muscles in the hand are called into action for both the task of holding scissors and holding a pencil. Also, eye-hand coordination is necessary for both actions.

One recent wet day, my son and I walked around our yard gathering and cutting leaves, flowers, and ferns. We then took our finds onto the porch for some cutting practice.

This activity turns cutting practice into a full-on sensory experience. My son smelled each and every plant he cut (and invited me to smell them too!).

I drew his attention to the colours and textures of the plants and asked him which were easier and which were harder to cut. We even used our sense of hearing—the dry, dead leaves made a slight crunching sound when cut.

Best of all, my son got to work on his scissor skills in a fun new way.