Top Notch Cutting

Today the Kinders had a little lesson on scissors. 
We practiced proper grip, techniques, and practiced cutting shapes out. 

We learned a couple tips to help us when cutting: 
1. "Thumbs Up" (make sure your thumb is on top, not on the bottom) 

Thumbs down - WRONG

Thumbs up - RIGHT

 2. "Cutting Half Way" (when cutting, close scissors MOST of the way, not ALL the way) 

Correct - Open (ready to cut)

Correct - Closed (cut down)

Correct - Open (ready to cut)

INCORRECT - Closed all the way (leads to jagged edge when cutting)

3. "Crazy Hand" (This is the hand that is not holding the scissors. We call it the crazy hand because it moves around and helps us by moving the page we are holding. Sometimes the Kinders will try to move their cutting hand, but we want to practice keeping our cutting hand still and only moving our crazy hand.)

4.  "Laying down to cut" (This causes the child to keep their arm in the same place and only move their wrist. We pretended our "elbows" were glued down so we couldn't move them or lift them up. Otherwise, sometimes children twist and bend their arm in every direction when trying to cut) After trying this today, the kinders were very successful with their cutting! 




Here are some of the AM Kinders practicing their new cutting skills:

Here are some of the PM Kinders practicing their new cutting skills: