Developing scissor skills doesn’t happen overnight, it’s a lengthy process that takes some kids more time than others. One way to encourage kids to cut with scissors is to change the materials that are used to practice this skill often. Here are some Christmas cutting skills so you can make cutting fun and exciting with a Christmas theme.
Christmas Scissor Cutting Skills
I’ve discussed the importance and the sequence of cutting skills before.
Be sure to refer to the sequence to find out where your children are in their stage of development.
This open ended activity allows children to practice the scissor skills that match their abilities.
Supplies
- Stickers (Walgreens)
- Squares of Wrapping Paper (Target Dollar Spot)
- Pieces of Holiday Ribbon (any dollar store)
- Seasonal Paper Punches (Target Dollar Spot)
- Scissors
- Glue
- Old Christmas Cards
- Construction Paper
Christmas Fine Motor Skills
To practice snipping skills, place Christmas themed stickers on a strip of construction paper and then draw a line in between each sticker.
Children will enjoy using their scissors to practice snipping on the lines.
Paper Punches for Developing Fine Motor Skills
Once you show kids how to use paper punches they are fascinated with them.
The best part of using paper punches is that they are great for developing fine motor skills!
There are also pieces of ribbon in the Christmas cutting station that are perfect for practicing snipping skills.
Cutting Christmas Cards
I started asking friends, family, and colleagues to collect old greeting cards years ago to use in my classroom.
I placed the greeting cards in my writing center and invited the children to write on them, cut them up, or use them in an art project.
Soon, I was receiving old greeting cards from entire church congregations across the country!
Check out this research-based, playful learning unit in our curriculum shop!
The Ultimate Pre-K Christmas Activities Bundle
19 of our most popular Christmas theme resources, including math, literacy, and dramatic play! Make learning fun with this hands-on bundle!
Kids love cutting out pictures of Santa, elves, reindeer, presents and more and gluing them on paper, then writing about their creations.
The benefit of using greeting cards instead of regular paper is that the cards are thicker and provide more resistance and stability to help beginners hold the paper and maneuver the scissors.
Tearing Wrapping Paper
Ripping and tearing paper is an excellent fine motor activity for young children.
When children rip and tear paper they have to grasp the paper with their fingers and move their hands in opposite directions which helps develop important bilateral coordination skills.
Invite children to rip wrapping paper and use the pieces to create a collage with glue.
Cutting on the Lines
Remember, cutting right angles is one of the most difficult of tasks in the sequence of cutting skills.
If your children are ready to practice cutting right angles, trace a square on a piece of paper and place seasonal stickers along the lines.
The stickers will give the children something to focus on and will help them feel more confident as they cut towards a shorter goal.
More Christmas Ideas
Christmas Tree Sensory Bin Printable– Sensory bins are great ways to engage preschoolers in exploring and to build conceptual knowledge. This Christmas sensory bin builds pre-literacy skills. Children can find and match alphabet letters. They build visual discrimination skills, identifying the differences among letters. And they have so much fun digging in the bin to find the letters.
Five Senses Activities for Christmas – The five senses are key tools for preschoolers to explore and understand the world around them. When teachers can engage one or more of the senses, the learning experience becomes more concrete and more memorable. Here are over 20 activity ideas that will engage the senses as you invite preschoolers to learn more about Christmas.
Salt Dough Christmas Ornaments Kids Can Make- Salt dough ornaments are a classic Christmas craft, but they’re also tons of fun for kids and super easy to make. The best part? You probably already have the ingredients you need sitting in your pantry at home!
Printable Gingerbread House Recipe
You can get access to the free printable gingerbread house sequence cards below. Simply fill out the form and the printable will be emailed to you.
