SENSORY SENSE
The JumpTherapy Blog:
Fun Indoor Sensory Activities
Part 5 of 9: Fun with scissors (no running involved)

Cutting corners – and other shapes too: crafts that utilize scissor skills
Here are ideas for some classic projects that put your child’s growing familiarity with scissor skills to good use:
Drinking straw necklace The classic introductory kids’ craft! Simply snip different colored drinking straws into ‘beads’ and then thread them onto string or cord to make necklaces. In addition to the fine motor skills involved in cutting, your child is also practicing threading.
Materials: –Different colored drinking straws – String or chord – Scissors
Bonus: Threading the ‘beads’ in an alternating color pattern is a great sequencing activity (early math skill)
Optional: stapler
How to: — Cut out construction paper shapes for the eyes, nose and mouth — Glue them onto the plate — Use markers and/or crayons to finish the face — Snip around the edges of the plate to make the mane — Glue the craft stick to the back of the plate. — The lion puppet is ready to roar! The thumb is in the top smaller hole, the index and middle fingers are in the large bottom hole.
Bonus:mask — To make the lion into a mask, instead of cutting out construction paper shapes for the lion’s eyes and nose, help your child mark on the back of the plate where his own eyes and nose would be, and cut out those shapes from the plate. — Add a mouth with marker or crayon (if she cuts out too many shapes, the plate may fall apart), as well as whiskers, etc. — Staple elastic (to stretch over his head) or yarn (to tie behind his head) to the edges of the plate to hold the mask on to his face. — Beware your king of the jungle! — Tip: Put heavy tape over the staple ‘points’ so they don’t come loose and scratch your child
Collage Materials: Greeting cards Catalogs Magazines Newspapers Any other paper in your recycling bin that has attractive pictures or colors
Scissors
How to:
— Have your child cut any paper, or combination of paper, into short strips
— Either leave it loose like a hanging garland or close it up into a necklace by threading the final paper link through the links at either end of the chain before taping that last link together
Snowflakes
And another classic – folded paper snowflakes.
Materials:
Paper (or attractively-printed wrapping paper)
Optional: glitter glue
— Optional: Use glitter glue to decorate the snowflakes
(this one is especially easy, for young kids)
https://www.realsimple.com/work-life/entertainment/crafts-hobbies/how-to-make-paper-snowflakes
https://kinderart.com/art-lessons/seasons/winter/paper-snowflakes/
(This link includes templates)
https://www.firstpalette.com/craft/paper-snowflake.html
(This link includes links to other snowflake-folding instructions, as well as templates)
Tip:
-Flatten the snowflakes between or under books before hanging
What is a project your child really enjoyed making using scissors? Please share your thoughts in the section below. Also, let me know there or via email what topics you would like to discuss or hear more about.
Feel free to share or quote from this blog (with attribution, please, and if possible, a link), and to repost on social media.
I look forward to hearing from you!
All the best,
Miriam
First published on Miriam Skydell’s sensorybounce.com.
About Miriam:
Miriam Skydell MS, OTR/L is a pediatric OT with 30 years experience and a strong commitment to empowering every child with the skills, confidence and emotional stability necessary for a meaningful, independent life. In addition to her Masters degree from NYU (1986) and membership in the AOTA (American Occupational Therapy Association), Miriam is a licensed Interactive Metronome®, HWT (Handwriting Without Tears®), and TLP (The Listening Program®) provider.
Miriam performs preschool screenings, contracts experienced OTs, PTs and STs to schools, helped implement the HWT curriculum, and lectures extensively for parent and support groups and at teacher conferences for public and private schools throughout New Jersey. Through her private practice in Fair Lawn, Miriam Skydell and Associates, established in 1995, Miriam has helped countless children with a wide range of diagnoses improve functional living skills, manage the impact of sensory processing dysfunction, and meet their individual potentials.
In 2013, Miriam developed the Sensory Bounce® Therapy program for children with special needs, including autism, to receive therapy in a fun, natural play environment which their typically-developing peers often enjoy. In a stimulating indoor inflatable bounce facility, an experienced therapist works with small groups of children with ADHD, autism spectrum disorders, sensory processing difficulties, and other delays. Children learn to build their motor and social skills in goal-oriented therapy play sessions, classes, after school programs, and winter and summer camps. Simultaneously, parents meet in a separate space to share common experiences and support each other. Miriam takes pride in providing a nurturing, caring environment where children and their parents feel safe and secure to explore, take risks and overcome challenges.