If you haven’t introduced scissors yet, it’s time to start

Pediatric occupational therapists say using age-appropriate scissors is one of the best ways to boost fine motor skills and strength. When your child snips paper, they develop skills needed for getting dressed, brushing their teeth, and even writing.

In this post:

Article: How to help your toddler learn to use scissors
Activity: “Trim the grass” for scissor practice
Activity: Snipping streamers
Ask & Learn: How can I help my daughter learn to dress herself?

How to help your toddler learn to use scissors

Give your 2-year-old a pair of scissors? Really?

Yes. At this age, using toddler-safe scissors is important for building fine motor skills and hand strength. But the benefits go beyond even that. Scissor practice also helps build key cognitive skills.

The cognitive benefits of using scissors at 2

Bilateral integration: using both sides of the body simultaneously—for example, one hand holding paper, the other using scissors
Visual-motor skills: coordinating the eyes and hands together
Sequencing: following steps in a particular order—hold the paper with one hand, hold the scissors with thumb on top, then alternate opening and closing scissors
Focus: sustaining attention on a task longer

Tips for introducing scissors

Your 2-year-old won’t be able to cut with precision yet. The goal at this stage is to help your child become comfortable holding scissors and making small snips.

Keep thumbs up. When your child holds scissors, ensure their thumb is facing up. Their middle finger can go into the loop, but it doesn’t matter where their other fingers fall. To help your child remember, you can draw a smiley face or a star on their thumbnail with a washable marker. If they can see it, their thumb is in the right place 🙂

Start small. Give your child small pieces of paper that are easy for them to hold. You can also tape one side of the paper to a table or wall. This allows them to focus on cutting without having to hold the paper steady.

Change the material. Encourage your child to cut modeling dough, junk mail, or even herbs. If your child seems ready for a challenge, they can try cutting card stock or other heavy paper. The thicker material can help strengthen their hands and improve their cutting accuracy.

Make a paper chain. Once your child has gotten the hang of snipping, try making a simple craft. Cut several long paper strips about ½-inch wide. Invite your child to snip them into shorter, 4-inch segments. Roll each one into a loop, link it with the next one, and tape them into a chain.

“Trim the grass” for scissor practice

Age-appropriate scissors are a great tool for expanding your child’s fine-motor skills and bilateral coordination—using both sides of the body at the same time. Draw vertical lines along the edge of green paper, and guide your child to cut along the lines to make “grass.” Tape it to the base of the Felt Flowers in a Row to create a garden scene. Invite your child to make dirt with brown modeling dough, plant the flowers, and trim the grass.

Snipping streamers

Materials:

Wooden Coin Bank
Nesting Stacking Dripdrop Cups (optional)
Roll of streamers
Toddler-safe scissors

Using scissors can help prepare your child’s hands for writing and various self-care tasks.

Thread the end of a streamer through the top of the Wooden Coin Bank, leaving a short tail. Model grasping and gently pulling the streamer, holding it taut while making small snips with the scissors. Then invite your child to try.

Optional: Provide a small cup and save your child’s snippings to use in their next art activity—they can paste the pieces onto a sheet of construction paper or combine them with clear contact paper to create a beautiful suncatcher.

What parents are asking our experts…

“How can I help my daughter learn to dress herself? She can’t quite do it and ends up really frustrated.”

Answer:

My favorite tip? Have your child sit down while dressing and undressing. This allows her to focus on her movements while not having to balance at the same time.

Create a routine for putting head and arms through a top. When taking off a top, it’s generally best to go in this order: arm, arm, head. When putting on a shirt, I find that the reverse works best: head, arm, arm.

Offer help getting pants all the way off her feet. This can be difficult even if your child is wearing loose bottoms. Again, sitting helps!

To get pants on, encourage your child to use her “chompers” 😀 First, help your toddler thread her feet through the holes of her pants. Next come the “chompers.” With your own hand, make the motion for “talking,” placing your thumb underneath your other fingers. Encourage your child to do the same. Then have her place her thumbs inside her waistband with her fingers outside and “chomp” down. Use simple language like, “first chomp, then pull up!”

Give her lots of opportunities to practice when you aren’t in a rush. Repetition is key. And it helps to keep it fun and low-pressure.

Answered by: