TEACH USING SCISSORS - THE EASY WAY

Children's Lesson for cutting easily
Cutting simplified for any age!

Cutting made easy: Tips and tricks for using scissors


Children of all ages need to learn how to use scissors to cut easily and safely. Children can get frustrated with craft projects if they do not turn out as well as they expect or if they have difficulty in cutting out the craft pieces. You can teach children to use scissors safely and to get the results they would really like with ease:

Cutting an inside piece - like a donut hole
Cutting an inside corner
Scissor Safety rules

 

CUTTING THE INSIDE OF A CIRCLE or any piece not connected to an outer edge just takes one small bit of information to get you going easily. Often children will try to poke the scissors into the place that needs to be cut out. Blunt scissors just dent or rip the paper. But using this method, anyone can use even blunt scissors to get it cut out easily.

Instructions for cutting out a center piece:
Lightly fold the paper in half through the part that needs cutting out.
Pinch the center with your left hand to create a light crease. (If you are left handed, reverse this process) Being careful to place your scissors away from your fingers (at least an inch if possible), cut a slit across the light crease. It must be just big enough to put one scissors blade into the slit. Open the object flat again. With the scissors in your cutting hand, put the lower blade into the slit and continue cutting the slit toward the line marking what is to be cut out. Continue cutting around the inside marking line of the object or circle until you are back to where you started. If you have a big loose chunk of floppy paper that you are cutting out, cut it off before you finish and it will make the rest of the cutting easier. The center should be cut out.

 

CUTTING INSIDE CORNERS AND EVEN SHARPER CORNERS can be a bane for children. Often children want to just turn the scissors when they get to a pivot point and keep on going. The pivot point is where the cutting line changes direction sharply. This can result in either a rounded corner that might not work well with the craft, or a torn corner, or torn project.

Show your children how to cut these corners like magic!

1. A STRATEGY FOR CUTTING: LOOK at the whole thing first. SEE which inside corner you are going to cut. Cut the corners first!

2. Any inside corner will have at least two lines that come together at a point. Choose which corner you will do first. Cut along one of the lines that goes all the way into the corner.

2. Pull your scissors out after you have reached the corner.

3. Move your scissors along the outside edge of the paper closer to the other line that needs to be cut. Cut along the line until this cut meets the first cut you made.

4. The corner piece should fall out. If not, look to see if you didn't get all the way to the corner with your first cut and give it a little added cut.

5. Now choose the next corner to be cut and cut it in the same way. Do this for all the corners.

6. When all the corners are cut, you can more easily cut off all the other pieces!

 

What are the classroom scissors safety rules
in your room?
(If you don't tell them, they may never know)

CREATE YOUR OWN TEN COMMANDMENTS FOR USING SCISSORS
THIS IS A MUST FOR PRESCHOOL THROUGH JR. HIGH

What is the rule about waving scissors in the air?
(Or reaching for something else with your hand while the scissors are on your fingers?)
What is the safety rule for moving around (walking) with scissors?
What is the right way to hand someone else a pair of scissors?
Have you talked about NOT touching the blades that are the cutting edges?

Be sure to always LOOK where you are cutting
(- do not look away)

What about cutting something that belongs to someone else?

What about NOT using scissors for purposes for which they were NOT intended in your classroom? (as a prying tool, sharpening pencils or crayons, or cutting things other than paper)

Especially for younger children:

What is your "safety space" - how far from the scissors blades should the fingers that are holding the project be kept?

Have you cautioned the children about putting scissors in their noses or ears, etc.?


How are your scissors stored?