Skill: Cutting

Learning to hold scissors correctly and guide them along a line while holding the paper steady with the other hand. This combines hand strength with coordination.

Cutting Dr. Seuss’s Hat

DrSeuss hat and materials

Use the provided Dr. Seuss’s Hat shape template (download here) or draw your own on a construction paper with markers.

To work on snipping, cut long strips of red construction paper, and mark short lines for the child to snip (see image).

Provide the child with the hat template and the red paper stripes.

Instruct the child to snip on the lines.

Have the child glue the pieces that he cut into the hat template. If needed, provide the child with visual cues where to glue the pieces.

Grading Options

  • Work on hand strength by asking the child to tear the paper into small pieces, instead of cutting.
  • Use pieces of tissue paper and have the child crumble them, then glue them to the paper.
  • If the child is able to cut on a line, or to practice cutting on a line, draw long lines for the child to cut and match to the size of the stripes on the hat.

 

Pickup Relay Games

Place two buckets in opposite sides of the room.

Fill one bucket with objects (Lego pieces, beads, plastic eggs, marbles, or anything that the child can pick up using tongs).

Have the child use the tongs to pick up an object from one bucket, run across the room, and drop it in the other bucket.

Grading Option

Place the objects in container or bucket full of sand or water.

Create an obstacle course for the child to go through.

Candy Cane

For this activity, we used colorful paper straws and cut each straw into 1-inch pieces.

Ask the child to string the cut straw pieces onto a pipe cleaner.

Bend the top of the pipe cleaner to shape it like a candy cane.

 

 

Christmas Circles Tree

For this activity you will need green (tree), brown (tree trunk), red (ornaments), and yellow (ornaments) construction paper.

Draw different sized circles on the green construction paper. Make sure the circles do not overlap. These will be used to create the tree.

Cut the circles out by following the lines using scissors.

If you have a circle puncher, you can have the child punch circles from the construction paper. This will enhance hand strength.

Instruct the child to use a single hole puncher and punch holes in the yellow and red construction paper. These will be the ornaments on the tree.

Glue the green construction paper circles together in a triangular shape (to resemble a Christmas tree).

Using a pincer grasp, instruct the child to pick up the little yellow and red dots, one at a time, and glue them to the green circles.

Cut a rectangle shape from the brown construction paper. Attach it to the tree as a trunk.

Catch the Turkey

Catch The Turkey Activity - final

For this activity, you will need a brown construction paper, yellow construction paper, and an orange construction paper. If you don’t have any colored construction paper, you can use a piece of cardboard (an empty cereal box or any other dry food box can be used) and white paper.

On the brown construction paper or cardboard, draw half a circle. This will be the turkey’s body.

Use the orange construction paper and draw a circle big enough to be used as the turkey’s head.

On the yellow construction paper draw a small triangle, to use as the turkey’s beak. If using a white piece of paper, draw a circle and a triangle, and let the child color these shapes orange and yellow.

Ask the child to cut the brown half of a circle, the orange circle, and the triangle.

Have the child glue the orange circle in the middle of the half-circle. Then, provide the child with red tempera or finger paint, ask him to dip his pointer finger in the paint, and then stamp it in the middle of the orange circle. This will be the turkey’s wobble.

Next, use the glue to glue the yellow triangle on the top part of the wobble. Use the marker or crayon to draw the turkey’s eyes. You can also use googly eyes.

Using the clothespins, instruct the child to pick one clothespin at a time, pinch it, and place it on the curved part of the half-circle, stabilizing the paper (turkey’s body) with the non-dominant hand. Cover the turkey’s body with as many clothespins you can. These are the turkey’s feathers.

Grading Option

You can use specific colors of clothespins, draw matching dots of colors on the turkey’s body, and have the child match the color of the clothespin with the colored dot.