Scissors!

Fresh new activities are invigorating. We observed this quite joyfully when scissors made their debut on the shelf in our Parent-Child class.

"Open. Close." Joy! She was so pleased at her newfound skill!

As with any new skill, the environment is set up for the child's success. The scissors really cut. The paper is stiff enough to easily hold its position while the scissors are being manipulated but not so thick that it's difficult to cut. Also, the paper is pre-cut into strips that are narrow enough to be cut in one snip.

In the above pictures, look at the child's left hand which opened when she opened the scissors with her right. There's so much opportunity for hand development in the first few years of life!

Note and admire the concentration. It is intense!

Trying again with just as much focus. (My favorite part of this photo may just be the shoes that she obviously put on herself!)

Similar to the top photo where the child opened both hands to use the scissors, this child opened his mouth when he opened the scissors. Scissors require a lot of focus!

My thanks to the parents in class who took and shared their pictures. The children often sat with their parent first and allowed me to join them and demonstrate the scissor use. Some were then able to sneak away and snap a picture!