Have you ever heard of a cutting box? This post will walk you through how to set one up for basically free and some of the benefits for little ones.
Raise your hand if you teach reading and writing! 🤚 Class books are one of my favorite tools for writing workshop time. They really help preschool and Kindergarten students get excited about learning to read and write. I’ve put together a set of my favorite printable class books totally free for you! These class books can be used throughout the school year and focus on skills like letter and number recognition, sight words, environmental print, and more! I know you’ll love writing and creating these books with your students!
Now, I’m pretty sure every Kindergarten teacher can tell you a story about a child cutting their hair or clothes! Really it happens every year! Many times little ones haven’t had a chance to play with scissors, so when you give them scissors for the first time. What do they do with them! They PLAY! Today I am going to show you how to set up a cutting box (pretty much for free) and the benefits of using one with your child!
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What is a cutting box?
A cutting box is just a collection of items for your little one to practice cutting. All you need is basically a container, some scissors and random materials that you already have around the house. This is our cutting box. It’s just a plastic bucket with scissors and other various materials inside of it.
What benefits does a cutting box have for students?
Cutting and using scissors are great for those fine motor skills! Fine motor skills are the ability to make movements using the tiny muscles in our hands and wrists. Kids need fine motor skills to do key tasks in life and in school like writing! This cutting box is going to meet the need for playing with scissors and develop those fine motor skills!
How to Make a Cutting Box
- Find a container to use as a cutting box. I used a plastic bin like this, but you could also use a cardboard box!
- Gather up some random materials that you have around the house that could be cut. Here are some ideas:
- Newspaper
- Cardboard boxes
- Bubble wrap
- Junk Mail
- Catalogs
- Pipe Cleaners
- Felt
- Foam
- Ribbon
- Paper Scraps
Really, anything that can be cut can be added to this box!
3. Add some appropriate scissors and let your child go to town cutting the materials any way that they wish! These scissors are great starter scissors and come recommended by an OT. Be sure to supervise the activity and go over some scissor safety skills and expectations. If your child isn’t ready for scissors yet, start with paper and just letting them tear!
Other Activities for Developing Fine Motor Skills:
I would love to see your cutting boxes! Be sure to tag me on Instagram! This post showed you how easy it is to put together a cutting box for your child!