WonderWorks: Scissors & Hole Punches

There are many ways to make holes in paper and all of them are fascinating to children!

Today's Topic: Scissors & Hole Punches, technology for little ones
Supplies:
Scissors (safety, kid-sized)
Hole punches (as wide a variety as you can gather!)
Paper
Drinking straws
clay
pipe cleaners (optional)
sandpaper (for a different texture to cut)

Book:
   Cat and Mouse : the hole story / Fox, Christyan

 What Kids Do: 
Early scissor practice always seems to feature a lot of "fringe" cutting, so we did some of that.

 I printed feathers from this site and asked adults to loosely cut them off the page and let kids cut a fringe texture into the sides.

We also cut fringe with decorative scissors.  I like to give kids decorative scissors because they are less likely to cut something they're not supposed to cut  (fabric, hair, etc.) and the line is much more interesting.

 We then used the fringed papers to make flowers!

Kids also enjoyed cutting the "hair" on these fantastic drawings. (check out that link, there are tons of beautiful free printable activities for kids!)

And of course, we punched holes.

Shaped holes...

Big holes...

Lots and lots of holes...

We even punched a big hole using a smaller punch (just punching in the same area over and over)!

This participant made paper "money" with her punches

And this one punched holes in the middle of his larger circles and threaded them onto a piece of yarn as a necklace!

And this little guy made himself a mask!

Cutting plastic drinking straws is very satisfying.

Sometimes they fly far and wide.

But they also make great beads when you're done!

And for something completely different... try cutting playdough with scissors!

Or... just have fun combining it all together.

Another way to make a hole in paper is... to tear it!

These guys are making a hole in their playdough using the container.

 Variations to try: 

--more scissor practice ideas here, here, here, or here.
--try cutting up old magazines, tissue paper, cardstock, styrofoam... or flubber!
--use the resulting dots and paper scraps to make a contact paper collage!