My son who is 2 years old is very keen to learn how to use scissors at the moment after he attempted to use the scissor cutting practice tray at his Montessori toddler class with some success.
This is the tray from the Montessori toddler classroom (18 months – 3 years) both of my children have attended to give you some idea on how to set up a first scissor cutting practice tray. The cutting strip was printed on card stock. The lines on the strips of paper are the guide for cutting. The little ceramic dish is where the child puts the strips of paper once they are being cut. Once the child has finished using the cutting strip, the bits of cut up paper then go into the small envelope and are then used in the collage area.
This photo is from How We Montessori keeps it simple. There are no lines on these cutting strips.
After my eldest had lots of practice with the more simpler straight and diagonal lined cutting strips, I added curved lines and shapes.
Teaching from a Tacklebox has a Montessori scissor cutting guide and printables. How great is this idea for storage. My 4 year old has been coming home with cutting strips like these from her Montessori school the last couple of weeks. Now that I have a scissor cutting practice tray set up for my 2 year old at home, she has asked me to print out some for her as well. You can also print these cutting strips free from Ang at Home.
