Spring-Loaded Scissors: Great for Preschool Learning

Many of you preschool teachers will be familiar with the spring-loaded scissors I feature in my video. You may have seen them used by OTs. I’ve found in my years as an OT that these scissors are also a wonderful and useful tool to use in your classroom. They can help children become more confident when they’re learning to cut with scissors.

I understand how difficult it is for children to learn how to cut with scissors. There are many steps involved between holding the paper in place, getting the hand placement right on the scissors then teaching a child to clamp down to close the scissors and open them again. All those hand movements are tough on a child. Luckily, when you use spring-loaded scissors, it takes out that step of bringing the scissors apart once you’ve closed them. There are also many rewarding benefits for kids when they use spring-loaded scissors.

The Benefits of Spring-Loaded Scissors for Children

Kids can have a challenging time learning to use regular scissors, which can make them unmotivated to pick up the scissors and cut. With spring-loaded scissors, they make cutting easier and more fun. When children are able to use the spring-loaded scissors on their own, they’ll feel they’ve accomplished a task independently and it will motivate them to continue to cut. While spring-loaded scissors have a device on them that makes them easier to use, it doesn’t act as a crutch that hinders children’s ability to eventually learn to cut with regular scissors. Eventually, they will naturally and independently move onto cutting with regular scissors the more practice they get with the spring-loaded scissors.

Furthermore, when kids continue to use scissors, it helps strengthen many developmental areas. It helps support the opening of the hand, visual motor skills, and bilateral hand tasks.

If you’re looking for a couple places to purchase spring-loaded scissors for your classroom, check out these links.

http://www.amazon.com/Maped-Spring-Scissors-Assorted-037910/dp/B0013NDVCM/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1453408803&sr=8-2&keywords=spring+loaded+scissors

http://www.amazon.com/Fiskars-194900-1001-Pre-School-Training-scissors/dp/B00K2T14WW/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1453408803&sr=8-5&keywords=spring+loaded+scissors

I encourage you to invest in getting a couple of these spring-loaded scissors for your classroom, so you can give your students the opportunity to strengthen their fine motor skills.