Essential OT Materials
The Cutting Program is a trademarked product of Real OT Solutions®. Similar to the handwriting curriculum, it’s all about building fine motor skills and feelings of competence while engaging in fun learning activities. These scissor practice sheets provide activities that are suitable for preschoolers and school-aged children, as well as anyone else working on fine motor skills. Skillful manipulation of scissors is an excellent way of developing strength and coordination. Additionally, holding the cutting practice sheets with one hand and maneuvering scissors with the other develops bilateral coordination. Our cutting sheets for preschoolers and young children help kids learn to differentiate movement between the right and left sides of the body, both mobilizing and stabilizing. In fact, that same differentiation happens within the hand itself. The little finger side of the hand holds the scissors, while the thumb side of the hand opens and closes it.
Great news! You can teach kids cutting and writing skills through activity-based learning in preschool, kindergarten, learning support classrooms, or other occupational settings. We’ve designed handwriting for kids and cutting exercises for kindergarten, school-aged children, and others to help in this regard. With regular use, scissor practice sheets and handwriting practice paper can teach valuable motor, perceptual, and cognitive skills through exciting and stimulating cutting activities. The Cutting Program is divided into 6 series: Snips, Squares, Circles, Triangles, Complex Curves, and Angles. Each series has 6 different pictures, and each picture has 3 different line thicknesses. On top of all that, all 93 individual cutting activity pages are reproducible.
Why Scissor Skills?
With successful scissor skills development therapy, children develop fine motor skills and are better prepared for more complex learning later. By instilling a positive attitude towards learning with fun activities, like scissor practice sheets and handwriting practice workbooks, you'll promote your child’s receptiveness to actual learning goals in school.
The Cutting Program builds shape awareness! Regularly practice with cutting sheets for preschoolers so they develop an understanding of shapes and lines. We’ve divided our program into six series: Snips, Squares, Circles, Triangles, Complex Curves, and Angles. Kids can practice cutting each shape, coloring them, orienting them correctly to place on the picture, and then gluing them, which heightens awareness of spatial relationships. And… if the children color the shapes after they cut them AND glue the cut shapes onto the picture, you promote bilateral coordination. Educators recommend stimulating experiences like these for students to encourage interest in motor activities and a greater curiosity about all things around them.
Developing competence with our reproducible cutting sheets goes beyond teaching children about the activity at hand. It also fosters a sense of pride in a job well done. Sharing cutting activities amongst students builds associated responsibilities, goals, and learning expectations.
Interested in learning about other curriculum options? Contact us today to learn how to pilot the Size Matters Handwriting Program® in your school or institution.
When to Use the Cutting Program
When to start the cutting program will vary from child to child. However, there are some signs that indicate your little one is ready to start practicing with safety scissors and scissor practice sheets, including:
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Focus & Maturity: Does your child follow instructions well? Can they sit still long enough to complete a practice session?
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Fine Motor Control: Test if they can use their thumb, middle, and index fingers independently.
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Coordination: They’ll need to coordinate bilaterally, using each hand independently.
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Hand Strength: Can your child squeeze playdough or make tongs click closed? Until they have the strength to operate scissors, don’t introduce cutting sheets for preschoolers.
You should also use different stages of cutting exercises for kindergarten and preschool at different ages:
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2-3 Years: Opening and closing one hand at a time.
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3-4 Years: Holding the scissors and using them without paper.
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4-5 Years: Cutting straight lines on a sheet of paper.
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5-6 Years: Cutting curves and shapes in paper.
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6-7 Years: Following complex outlines to cut more intricate shapes.
Child development does vary, so your little one may be ready for each level at slightly different stages than this guide. Monitor progress to determine when to introduce each part of the cutting program.
Shop Premium Bundles
The Cutting Program offers fun scissor activities for kindergarten and elementary school children in both regular and special education classes. That’s because Real OT Solutions® is dedicated to meeting the cutting, printing, and drawing needs of anyone with sensory, motor, or learning difficulties. With our beginner and advanced scissor practice sheets and packages, you have a solution that has been proven effective by teachers, parents, and Occupational Therapists.
When you buy the Print/Cut/Draw Success Kit, you receive the entire Cutting Program, including the Instruction Manual and a set of Cutting Program Progress Monitoring forms, along with a Student Workbook, one pack each of First, Second, and Third grade writing paper, an Alphatrangle, a set of Activity Books, and an I Can Draw book. We recommend the box set because it combines bilateral coordination, perceptual skills, and fine motor practice, providing effective activities to enhance learning and development.
Feel free to browse through our handwriting kits to find the best solutions for your needs.
