When children learn a new skill, they want to do it all day long. Things like riding a bike, drawing a person or using scissors will be done over and over and over agin – to our delight and sometimes frustration.

My daughter was like Edward Scissorhands when she started to learn how to use scissors. She could blow through a piece of paper in less than a minute, and then she was asking for another piece. I was going through so much computer and construction paper, I had to start rationing and asking her to take a break from it.

I didn’t want to discourage or limit cutting practice – it’s an important pre- kindergarten skill. But redirecting her to something else constantly wasn’t working, and I didn’t want to say “no you can’t cut anymore”. She was so focused and excited about what she was doing. And when THEY are motivated, we need to seize the moment and go with it.

It’s the same in preschool settings, but with even more kids shredding and blowing through paper at the same time. Paper is a huge budget item for many programs and homes.

It’s all about cause and effect in the beginning

Cutting something holds so much power for young children – it’s all about the actual cut. That feeling of making a cut in something is magical. They are focused on the action and what happens, not on what they cut out actually looks like. That comes later when cutting become for intentional to make something.

If you are making a “project” with beginners, it’s typically something like a collage. Which is glueing the snippets of paper onto another paper – so why waste all that perfectly good computer paper?

Our focus as parents and educators should be on giving them ample time to practice and develop this skill. It’s an important piece of being ready for kindergarten.

A brain and body workout

Using individual movements of fingers

Two handed coordination: holding and moving scissors and a piece of paper

Eye-hand coordination

Fine motor skills

Focus, attention

Core, arm and finger muscle development

Recalling and practicing safety instructions

Favorite things for kids to cut

Cutting things other than plain white computer paper adds an element of surprise and novelty. It also naturally teaches them that they might need more or less hand pressure to make the cut – or to hold the item they are cutting a different way.

We have so much paper in our daily lives (even in this digital age) that we can reuse. In fact we toss out so many things can use that we have already purchased.

✂️ mail: save those envelopes, flyers and catalogs that come in the mail. Any junk mail or mail that you don’t need to keep can be cut up. It’s like having your own human paper shredder

✂️ hit up your recycling bin at work (I would ask your boss first just to make sure that’s ok)

✂️ packing slips and other paper that come in packages delivered to your house

✂️ index cards or note pads from the dollar store. You can get a whole package of them super cheap if you don’t already have some – and they come in different shapes and sizes for added fun.

✂️ and my all time favorite is using food boxes and can or jar labels. You are already buying this, don’t throw that bonus paper away.

Soup cans are also smaller and easier for small hands to manipulate. A pasta or cereal box is thicker and really going to build and strengthen those muscles in the hand and fingers. I tend to use the boxes for more advanced cutters who have been cutting for a bit, so they don’t get frustrated needing more strength and pressure to cut.

So say goodbye to running out of computer paper or paper rationing – and hello to more fun and learning.

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