Lesson Plans

Ideas and resources

Play Dough And Scissors

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strengthening-scissor-skills-with-play-dough-mama-papa_-bubba_

Recently I spent sometime with 4-6 year old’s and I was very surprised to see that they could not use scissors correctly. I am assuming that because my children have grown up with scissors on the table most of the time (due to craft) they picked it up quickly.  One little boy struggled not only to hold the scissors but to hold the thin paper. This idea from mamapapabubba.com is a great idea. It utilizes a material  (play dough) that the kids are familiar in handling.

So this starts a question :

When did you introduce Scissors to you child? Have the actually ever cut themselves?

 

 

 

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Comments

  1. My kids are grown but they started using real scissors at 4-5. A girl & a boy and they never cut themselves. Started with big shapes.

  3. My daughter seemed to be proficent before i officially gave them to her. I just “loved” that first haircut. I then officially gave her access to scissors and paper its been a few years but she had to be 2 or a little younger. She never injured herself and hair regrows.

  4. From my teaching experience, I have seen many 5-6 year olds who have no idea how to hold scissors, or the paper. I just wonder if some parents don’t provide “craft time” as much as “video game time”. My son was using scissors at daycare (with supervision)from 3 yrs on.

  5. My daughter was desperate to get ahold of my scissors from a very early age, but I made her wait until she was about two, I think… I found some safety scissors that were supposedly for very small children- completely made of plastic with no sharp points or edges anywhere. She loved them and used them constantly, but she got frustrated easily because they didn’t work very well. But, at least she never cut anything that wasn’t meant to be cut! Which was my goal. For Easter this year, I got her a new pair of “safety” scissors. They’re labeled as 4+. As far as I can tell, she has never touched them. But she has been (supervised only!) using my extremely sharp and pointy embroidery scissors. She does okay, and knows to be super careful of where her fingers are.

Have you read?

Book Review: Las Mañanitas

The celebration of Our Lady of Guadalupe is important throughout Mexico and other parts of the world. Her feast day is Dec. 12, and the celebrations honoring her appearance to Juan Diego in 1531 begin a few days before that.

Whether you celebrate yourself or just want to  share about the celebration at home or in your classroom, Las Mañanitas: The Beautiful Celebration of Our Lady of Guadalupe is a good place to start. The book, by Ernesto Joel Vega Rosales and Jeanette Gonzalez Seneviratne, with illustrations by Dana Sanmar, tells the story of a family’s celebration of the feast day in both English and Spanish.

They prepare with a novena, which is nine days of prayers and preparations. The children, Lucia and Pablo, are given special outfits made by their grandmother that look like what Juan Diego might have worn when he saw Our Lady. The book describes the prayers that are made each day, such as a prayer for respect for life, for families and for the indigenous people of the Americas, to name a few.

As told in the book, Juan Diego was a native Mexican born near modern day Mexico City. His given name was Cuaauhtlatoatzin, which means “He who speaks like an eagle.” When he converted to Christianity his name was changed to Juan Diego, and as he walked to church he passed a hill called Tepeyac. One day he heard the birds singing especially beautifully and a voice called him to go to the top of the hill.

There he saw Our Lady of Guadalupe, who asked him to tell the bishop she wanted a chapel built in her name at the foot of the hill. The bishop asked for a sign that Juan Diego really saw her, and later she had him collect flowers that she blessed and take them to the bishop. When Juan Diego dropped the flowers, an image of Our Lady could be seen on his cloak, which is still on display in her basilica to this day.

The feast day is celebrated as mañanitas, which includes singing, indigenous music and dancing, and children presenting flowers to Our Lady. Juan Diego is remembered today as being humble, brave and faithful, and was the first indigenous American made a saint.

The book is colorful and tells the story in a clear way, and it’s fun to have it both in English and Spanish if you teach Spanish or speak Spanish at home or in the classroom. It’s a great way to learn the basics of the celebration and the story of Juan Diego and why he is still remembered today.

About the book: 40 pages, paperback, published 2024 by Loyola Press. Suggested retail price $14.99.

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