By Sierra

This is a great Valentine's Day project to use when you are first introducing a child to scissors.  It requires single "snips" only.  Before starting the project, show the children how to hold scissors and talk to them about using scissors safely:

• Pay attention when using scissors.  Stop using the scissors if you want to look up.
• Cut in a direction away from your body and fingers, hands, arms, and legs.
• Do not try to catch a dropped pair of scissors.  Let the scissors fall and then pick them up.
• Never fight or horse around when holding scissors.
• Do not run or climb while carrying a pair of scissors.
• Always pass a pair of scissors handle first to another person.
• Practice good posture when using scissors.

Although it's difficult to hurt yourself with children's safety scissors, preschoolers should practice safe scissor habits from the very first time they get the privilege of using them!

You can make this craft appropriate for older children (kindergarten and up) by asking them to fill their templates with a particular type of shape (squares, rectangles, triangles, polygons, etc)

Materials:

• children's scissors,
• construction paper -- you can prechoose the color or let the kids pick their own
• glue,
• paper and printer.

Craft Instructions:

• ADULT:  Print template of choice or make your own - the Valentine's Day shapes are very simple and easy to draw freehand.
• ADULT:  Cut the construction paper into long, one inch wide strips (you can cut fast, they don't have to be perfect)

ex: 
 

• Show the child how to hold and safely use their scissors.
• Let the child snip off pieces from the strips of construction paper...  As the children get older, you can ask them to try to snip perfect squares, but to begin with, just let them snip away

• Either squeeze the glue onto the template for the child or squeeze some into a margarine container lid and give the child a q-tip or popsicle stick to spread the glue themselves.
• Let the child fill the template with the snipped pieces -- don't worry that they go over the lines.
• Let dry.
• ADULT:  cut out the shape along the dark line (you should be able to turn the page over and see the dark black line through the back of the paper).

Craft Templates:

• Close the template window after printing to return to this screen.
• Set page margins to zero if you have trouble fitting the template on one page (FILE, PAGE SETUP or FILE, PRINTER SETUP in most browsers).

Flower Template

Heart Template

Printable version of these instructions