Veronika is just starting to work on her scissor skills, after some early forays cutting play dough. This is a cute way to give your child a bit more of a challenge, as he or she learns to hold the blades!

To start, I made two straight lines on construction paper, then started each line with a little snip and handed over the safety scissors. After a review of how to properly position the scissors in her fingers, Veronika could make a little snip or two.

She loved the challenge, although it also became clear pretty quickly that cutting is still too advanced for her.

She wanted to show her stuffed animals how to snip (“You did it Puppy!”) and sometimes wanted to tear along the lines instead, with great pride at the shapes of paper that resulted.

For preschoolers, make it a little more challenging. Draw a “path” that changes direction, instead of a straight line.

Then see if your child can find his or her way along this path. You can even make it curvy for those kids who are nearing kindergarten!