Snipping Sprinkles

Tools

1. PDF Printout (Click Here)

2. Play-Doh

3. Scissors Straw Tongs

4. Straw

5. Tongs

Activity Description

We will practice counting and snipping straws to create sprinkles for ice cream! Children will use tongs to pick up the sprinkles and place on the ice cream cones. Count how many sprinkles are needed for each cone!

Steps

• Step 1: Print out the PDF and cut out ice cream cards in advance

• Step 2: Begin by placing fingers properly into the scissors. The thumb is placed in the small hole, whereas the index and middle fingers are placed in the larger hole. It is also proper to place the index finger at the front of the larger hole where you can find an indentation.

• Step 3: Use the helper hand to hold the straw while the scissor cutting hand begins to make small snips.

• Step 4: Use tongs to pick up the newly made "sprinkles" and place onto the ice cream. Keep in mind how many sprinkles are needed for each ice cream cone!

Goals

Snipping is a beginning stage of scissor skill development. It is extremely important for children to learn proper finger positioning into the scissors, maintaining a thumb-up approach, and beginning to use a helper hand to assist with stabilizing an item when cutting. If a child is not able to snip properly, one can expect to find they have difficulty with cutting lines as well. We begin at this stage and once it is mastered, we will move to cutting a paper in half.