Materials
None
Instructions
1. On a few sheets of construction paper, draw a single line extending from one
edge of the paper to midpoint.
2. Give each child a piece of the marked paper and a pair of safety scissors.
3. Explain to the children that the line on the paper marks a place for them to
cut. Hold up a paper and demonstrate where to place the scissors to start.
4. Open your scissors wide and say, "Open them." Close the scissors to make
the first cut and say, "Close them."
5. Encourage the children to mimic your actions and words. Chant "Open them,
close them" as you cut on the black line to the end.
6. Remember to cut slowly so that the children can keep up with you.
7. At the end of your line, stop cutting and say, "Stop."
8. Praise the children for their efforts and encourage them to keep practicing.
Note: Always supervise young children when they use scissors. The child who
cannot cut paper will find it amazingly easy to cut a friend's hair.
More to do
Encourage the children to cut out pictures from old magazines. Offer help as
needed but don't control the children's cutting. They will learn by doing. If
desired, draw a thick black line around the picture to help the child cut it out.
Music and Movement: Practice starting and stopping in other ways. Play "freeze
dance" by having the children dance to music and freeze when the music stops.
More Music and Movement: Use the chant below to lead the children in other
start and stop activities. Simply change the chant to suit your needs. For
example:
We're going to hop, hop, hop
Hop, hop, hop
Hop, hop, hop
And stop!
Original chant
Cut and Stop Chant
We're going to cut, cut, cut
Cut, cut, cut
Cut, cut, cut
And stop!
