Ayla could not use scissors correctly before I introduced these clever self-opening scissors! Literally within minutes she was holding the scissors correctly and snipping her way through his tail! Sometimes all you need is the correct tool. Unique squirrel activities for preschoolers can be hard to came by but this tail snipping activity is definitely one to try.
Autumn Cutting Activities The Perfect Preschooler Squirrel Craft
Resources
- Cardboard
- Pencil
- Black Pen
- Adult Scissors
- Brown Paper
- Cello Tape
- Child Safe Scissors
The Set Up
Draw a rough squirrel (without it’s tail) onto your cardboard. Next trace over the lines with a black pen and use the scissors to cut around him. Now grab the brown paper and draw and cut out several squirrel tails. Cello tape one tail onto the back of the squirrel and you are good to go! Lay the squirrel out, along with the scissors, have the cello tape and spare tails close by so you can replace his tail when needed.
Squirrel Activities For Preschoolers Like This Are Great For;
Boosting fine motor skills as they practice using the smaller muscles in their hand to open and close the scissors.
Supporting speech development as you talk about the different lengths of snips, how the tail looks and feels, as well as, how short the tail is getting!
Promoting problem solving skills as they learn the best way to hold the scissors and the paper.
Encouraging bilateral control as they use one hand to cut and their other hand to position the paper.
How To Hold Scissors For This Squirrel Activities For Preschoolers And Beyond.
Holding scissors correctly isn’t an easy skill. Ayla was a huge fan of holding scissors with both hands like garden shears until I introduced her to self opening scissors! Squirrel activities for preschoolers like this means Ayla can snip the squirrels tail while keeping her fingers safe. Here is how we can encourage holding scissors correctly, the stages of learning with few activities that can help children develop their fine motor skills and resources that can help.
Holding Scissors Correctly
I’m sure you can hold a pair of scissors correctly so I’m not going to go into to much detail. But it’s actually really hard to get your child’s hands into scissors correctly. Like getting their hands in gloves! Then you find yourself second guessing everything.
You want their thumb to be facing up. Some people draw a smiley face on their child’s thumb. Place their thumb into the smallest hole and their pointer and middle finger into the larger hole, possibly even their ring finger if it fits! If they haven’t already encourage them to curl their little finger.
Stages Of Learning How To Hold Scissors
Using scissors is a tricky skills to master. However, their are a few different activities we can use that will help them to develop the muscles for fine motor skills.
Playdough – Squeezing, rolling and squashing helps to develop the muscles in our children’s hands.
Pegs – Squeezing pegs to open them and even creating an activity where they peg the peg onto something helps to develop bilateral skills (using both hands to do different things) as well as develop the muscles in their hands.
Pipette – Squeezing the pipette to release the water and learning how to control how much water is released is another great one that develops their hand muscles.
Ripping Paper – Just like the pegs ripping paper is great at developing the muscles in their hands as well as developing bilateral control.
Exploring the activities above as well as, exploring the scissors you will have your little one well on their way to being able to snip paper, cut straight lines and eventually cut out more complex lines and shapes.
Resources That Can Help.
The links below are affiliate links. I will gain a small commission if you purchase any of these item via the links below.
Fine Motor Tool Set
This set is the perfect bundle to get you started on fine motor skills. Ayla loves the pipette and the others have been used for countless sensory activities.
Self Opening Scissors
These scissors are a game changer!
Ayla went from the two-handed-garden-shear-method to using scissors correctly within minutes. The are super easy to use and the perfect size for little hands. I love how you can flick the yellow attachment up so you child can naturally progress to opening the scissors independently.
Geoboard
The geoboard is the perfect tool to practice fine motor skills and bilateral movement! Ayla has used this to add the elastic bands on, however she has begun to make repeating patterns.
Books About Squirrels For Preschoolers.
Take a look at these books about squirrels to go along with the tail snipping activity.