Are you looking for a fun hair cutting fine motor activity for a toddler or preschooler?
Have fun developing those all-important fine motor skills with this simple set-up scissor skills haircut activity.
You can have this scissor-snipping activity ready within minutes. It presents an excellent opportunity for your little one to practice transferable skills that are perfect for getting ready for school in the coming years.
Scissor Skills Hair Cuts
Using scissors properly requires the coordination of many skills. As adults, we can pick up a pair of scissors and use them correctly to snip whatever we need to.
If you are worried about giving a toddler scissors I always recommend starting with THESE safety scissors and then slowly moving up to better ones as they get more confident.
This is a result of years of practice and refinement.
Our little people watch us use scissors almost effortlessly.
It can be overwhelming for them to pick up a pair and not be able to use them in the same way.
So, what can we do to help our children develop these skills?
Encourage them to squish play-dough, thread pasta necklaces, peel stickers, and dig in the sand pit.
Give them hands-on experiences. Each movement will help them practice developing skills such as fine motor skills, hand-eye coordination, and bilateral coordination, which are all transferable to using scissors- and loads of other tasks, too!
This scissor skills haircut activity is great for children with developing abilities.
Tailor the activity to suit your child’s ability to make a fun way to practice using scissors. Remember to put the scissors away if they are inspired to do a DIY haircut.
What You Need For Scissor Skills Hair Cuts:
- White Paper
- Coloured Paper
- Glue
- Scissors
- Marker
- Crayons (optional)
How to Set Up Your Scissor Skills Hair Cut Activity:
The first step to setting up your scissor skills haircut activity is to design your character.
This is a perfect moment for incidental learning. Your little one chooses which parts of the face you should draw first.
Better yet, encourage older children to draw their own people. I fondly remember a time I gave my oldest a mirror to draw a self-portrait.
That would work so well with this activity, too.
Getting back on track... use the marker to draw an upper body and head on the white paper.
Trim the width of the coloured paper to suit the hairline of the person and glue it in place.
Use the marker to draw vertical snipping guidelines down the length of the coloured hair.
Capable children can be given the task of following these guidelines to cut the ‘hair’ into locks.
Remember, elbows in, thumbs up, and watch out for their helping hand.
Once the ‘hair’ has been cut to create locks, it is time to give the character a trim.
Mr three loved snipping the locks into shorter lengths. Given no guidelines, there is less pressure while practicing using scissors. This is a great confidence booster for little ones who are developing skill sets.
We created two characters. According to Mr three, that was not enough! He loved snipping the locks and styling the character’s hair into wacky hairstyles.
He had no idea that while completing his scissor skills haircuts, he was strengthening so many important life skills. Play-based learning for the win!
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SOME MORE FUN TODDLER ACTIVITY IDEAS YOU MIGHT ENJOY ARE:
Paper Plate Hair Cuts - Toddler Activity for Scissor Skills
Crazy Hair Fine Motor Toddler Craft
About the Author
Dani is a busy stay-at-home Mum of 3 and an early childhood teacher in training who is passionate about play-based learning throughout early childhood. For educational play ideas that you can do at home and parenting tips, visit Play Inspired Mum. Check her out on Instagram and Facebook