You Will Need:

• Winter Stamps
• Construction Paper
• Markers and Scissors
• Textured (foam) stickers

The Activity:

Here’s another great way to teach little ones how to cut. I use white construction paper and draw basic shapes such as square, triangle etc…

I like cutting along the shape when im teaching cutting as it helps children cut on the lines more easily. i.e I drew a blue square and before asking my child to cut it out, I cut around it in the shape of a square.

I then ask children to peel and stick foam snowflake stickers on each corner. (This is a great way to work on pincer strength and fine motor skills)

Children then use winter themed stamps (i used snowflakes) and stamp along the line.

I then cue the children as follows:

“Cut across the snowflake” and “Turn when you get to a sticker”.

Here, we cut out a square and kept the scraps. We then used the shapes that we cut out, along with the scraps to form a person by sticking pieces on construction paper.

I draw a box at the top of the page and ask children to name their figure. (Little added handwriting practice)

They then use snowflake stamps to make a snowing scene.

Sticker Fun:

Comes included in MissMancy’s Handwriting Starter Kit. Available for purchase on this site.

Cutting on sticker: place stickers on circular shape and instruct your child to cut through each sticker when cutting. This will teach him to turn and cut.

To move hand when  cutting: to teach hand placement /movement when cutting. Space out stickers along the edge of a paper and instruct to cut and move non dominant hand to one sticker at a time from bottom to top.

Where to start letter: For little ones as a reminder where to start their letters.

Dot to dot for letters: place small stickers as dots that children have to connect to make letters.

Spacing: great to teach kids spacing between words. Each sticker accumulated can be worth a point or a min on the Ipad.

Placement on crayon: for kids who can hold a pencil with a tripod grasp I use tiny stickers as a visual reminder as to where fingers go.

Place a sticker and write the word: I like finding out what a child likes ex:sea creatures …I buy cute stickers of the theme they love, I have then stick a few on paper and ask then to write the name of this animal in the box.

Neat pincer with art work: removing small stickers is a great way to work on neat pincer.

And of course let’s not forget that stickers are a great reward!

Highlighters

Highlighters and bright markers are a great handwriting tool!

Comes included in MissMancy’s Handwriting Starter Kit. Available for purchase on this site.

I use them often and many different ways:

• Write a word or letter with highlighter and ask ur child to trace with a pencil. Or make a highlighted dot where u want ur child to start his letters
  

• For children who have difficulty staying in the lines, highlight the lined paper and say:  ”Stay in the yellow lines!”

• Always make highlighted boxes to delineate where you want your child to write. This gives them a frame within which they can write (otherwise kids tend to make letters all over the place and different sizes!!!)

• Highlight area to cut and say Stay on the yellow road!

You will need:

• Scissors (I like Fiskars best..available for purchase at MissMancy’s AMAZON Shop)
• Heavy stock paper or construction paper
• Markers or crayons

The Activity:

Here is a really fun way to get ANY child to enjoy cutting. First I draw the face of their favorite character at the top of an 8×3 inch piece of construction paper. I then draw 2 long legs and color the middle yellow.

I then ask the child to cut by staying on yellow so as to create 2 legs for their favorite character! Tada! Simple but fun way to teach early cutting skills.

Note: If you are not artistically inclined, find small characters in coloring books to complete this activity.

You will need:

• Little heart containers (I purchased these at Target)
• Different colored heart shaped plates
• Grabber (I purchased these at Target)
• Paper and Pencil

The Activity:

Children love themes. I always try to come up with an activity for the Holiday that we are celebrating. This becomes very motivating to children. For this activity, I purchased mostly all the supplies at Target. Look around their inexpensive items at the front of the store. It is always filled with Holiday gadgets!!

First, have your child write one letter on a small piece of paper for every heart that you have. Then place one letter per heart container. Then place 2 different colored heart shaped plates on either side of the room and spread out all the little heart containers around the room.

Have your child use the grabber to pick up one heart at a time and carry it over to the matching plate. Using the grabber is a great way to improve your child’s hand and finger strength. The open/closing movement of the grabber is a great prep activity for cutting skills!!

Once your child has picked up all the hearts, let him chose one colored plate with hearts and you then get the other one. He must WIN YOUR HEARTs by guessing the letter in each container!

Give him a clue for each letter. For example, letter E is the first letter for an animal that is big, heavy and has a long trunk…an Elelephant…letter E!

You can also have your child practice his handwriting by copying this word or letter on paper. Continue until your child has WON YOUR HEARTs <3

You will need:

• Lite Brite (I like the smaller version; most children don’t have the patience to complete a large detailed picture…available here at MissMancy’s AMAZON Shop)
• Construction paper
• Scissors

The Activity:

I love this activity with kids of all ages because it works on so many fine motor skills at once! First cut a piece of construction paper about 5 X 5 inches wide. (for the mini version of the lite brite I use post it notes or I cut out a smaller square). Then draw a simple geometric shape and ask your child to take 5 pegs in his hand and wiggle them out one at a time without using his other hand or body (retrieving) and to poke pegs all around the drawing. (This also works on pincer/finger strength).

Once the figure is completed and that your child enjoys look at it glow in the dark, have him pick up pegs one at a time with one hand (nesting). Every time your child pick up 5 pegs with the same hand, he can then put those pegs away and pick up another 5 pegs!

Finally, have your child use the holes on the figure as a guide to cut it out. I cue my children that the scissor must cut through each and every hole. This is an easy way to teach cutting circles!