Have some fun this autumn with your child’s scissors!

Why are scissor skills important? They can build up hand strength for one thing! By opening and closing the scissors, this helps children build up the small muscles in their hands. These muscles are important for other daily tasks such as using cutlery, fastening buttons and zips, drawing, writing, brushing teeth and hair, getting dressed and picking up small objects.

However, cutting skills do take time for children to master. Being able to use scissors and cut is important. Your child may use scissors in the nursery when conducting craft activities but remember, this skill may not be fully developed until the age of 5 to 6 years old.

Your child can practice cutting by doing a similar activity to the one below with the autumn leaves, play dough, foam boards etc. Remember though, your child needs to be able to sit with good posture and balance, have the ability to use the thumb, index and middle fingers for cutting and a strong wrist action to open/close the scissors.

Have fun practicing and what better way to try this than using the leaves.