My fellow OT buddies are so helpful... Here are lots of ideas for improving scissor control:
• Remember hand anatomy and ergonomics when looking at scissor use. Look at desk height, body stability in chair, student's control of paper as she holds it with her helper hand.
• Use stickers for start-stop points to increase visual attention.
• Wind rubber band or pipe cleaners around inside edge of loops to prevent blades from closing completely (for students who have difficulty opening blades.)
• Experiment with a variety of paper thicknesses to prevent paper bending too easily (cereal boxes, greeting cards, manila folders, tagboard.)
• Challenge students with a variety of approaches, “How many cuts will it take to drive across the road?”
• Review handbook(s) on scissor skills in the OT-PT library. Does your OT dept have a library with great books--we do. Guess which OT in our dept sends in the most requests for books???
• Review the scissor use handouts posted on our intra-county web portal page regarding scissor tips.
• When you develop handouts for parents, share a digital copy with your fellow OTs.
• Ask our musical OTR on staff to teach you her “Cut Like an Alligator” jingle…
Sherry--I will ask Frances, our musical OTR, to record the jingle so I can post it. K. 5-19
Haven't checked out all the links but there seem to be some good ideas for developing scissor skills on this list: Scissor Skills Development Ideas 5-20
3 comments:
PLEASE teach me the "Cut Like an Alligator" jingle! I have been telling my students they are working a birdie mouth and the bird LOVES to eat the lines on the paper, but this sounds like a great alternative. Thanks!
Thanks for the things you share! Our school's OT dept is still young and I'm still busy setting up a resource centre of books and things. Which books can you recommend with cutting and other fine motor abilities in mind? I'd really appreciate some guidance. Tackling everything at once is quite overwhelming.
Lita--send me your e-mail and I'll send you a handout about scissor skills. One of our OTRs is developing a very thorough power point and I'll ask her if I can send it when she's finished (but that may be next fall???) Karen
toolsforthejoboflearning@gmail.com
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