Vehicle Cutting Activity for Kids

This cutting activity for kids comes straight from our book, Playful Learning Lab for Kids

this …

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This fun activity for teaching kids how to use scissors was invented during a therapy session with a preschooler who was very reluctant to learn to cut.  He didn’t like how it felt to put his fingers through the holes of the scissors and he had difficulty with getting the hang of cutting forward across the paper.

I had some colored tape placed on the paper to give him a visual cue of where he wanted his scissors to go, but it just wasn’t doing the trick.  So…we made things a little more interesting!

This fun activity will help kids learn the proper hand positioning for cutting with scissors while giving them some fun and creative practice with cutting on lines!

If you’re looking for more fun activities to add to your transportation theme, check out these free printable Truck Heads/Tails Puzzles! These cute and colorful puzzles are perfect for working on visual motor skills with kids.

What you’ll need:

-colored tape
-marker
-paper
-scissors

What to do:

Place a strip of tape onto the paper.  Tear or cut off another smaller piece of tape and place it on the table.  

On the small piece of tape, draw a small:
-sailboat
-car or
-train

On the long piece of tape that is stuck to your paper, draw:
-waves to make a “river”
-a dotted line down the middle to make a “road”
-small lines perpendicular to the strip of tape to make “train tracks”

Then, stick the small piece of tape with the vehicle on it onto the child’s thumb, so the vehicle is positioned right over his or her thumbnail.

To complete the activity, the child will sail his boat, steer his car, or drive his train right down the road, river, or railroad.  The catch?  He has to be able to see his vehicle the whole time (this is a great visual prompt to discourage “thumbs down” cutting!).

How to change it up:

-Once the child has the hang of cutting on straight lines, try placing the tape in different patterns or shapes on the page (zig zag, square, triangle, etc.)

-What other designs can you think of for this activity?  A man walking down the sidewalk?  A caterpillar climbing along a branch?

Check out these creative cutting ideas for kids and learn more about how to teach kids how to use scissors!

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Claire Heffron

Claire Heffron is co-author at The Inspired Treehouse and a pediatric occupational therapist in a preschool/primary school setting. She began her career with a bachelor's degree in magazine journalism but quickly changed course to pursue graduate studies in occupational therapy. She has been practicing therapy for 10 years in public and specialized preschool/primary school settings. She is a mom to three funny, noisy boys and relies on yoga, good food, and time outside to bring her back to center.

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