Most of my classes involve drawing or painting most of the time. However, occasionally we have a project that involves the use of scissors- cutting. There is almost always one or two students who have trouble using scissors. They either have a hard time cutting precisely where they want to - and have extra space around what they are cutting out, they end up with jaggedy cuts, or they just simply can't manipulate the scissors well all. Sometimes they get frustrated at their lack of scissor control, or feel like their artwork is "ruined" after they cut it out.

It is understandable for young children up to age 6 or 7 to still be developing their scissor-cutting skills. But by age 8 or so I feel that they should should have had enough experience using scissors that they feel confident and have the skills that would allow them the cut out a figure from a piece of paper. They should be able cut along a curved or straight line well enough that there aren't large chunks missing or cut off uncontrollably.

I believe children used to be given much more opportunity to practice using scissors in early grade school. However nowadays with the increase of computer use in school, the decrease of art, and the growing demands of reading and math test scores, children aren't always getting as much hands-on arts & crafts activities, including practice with scissors. And when they do get practice, it's often just along straight dotted lines.

Parents can help supplement their children's scissor training by giving them projects at home that require cutting with scissors. Give your child his/her own pair of scissors. If you are concerned about safety, then teach them good scissor safety measures, and perhaps keep them up and away unless you are there with your child. But, give them the freedom to ask to use them when they want to. Don't be afraid of many scraps of paper everywhere- that's your child learning good precision by repetition!

There are many scissors that are supposedly for both right and left-handed children. However they are just designed so that it is comfortable for both right and left hands. True left-handed scissors are actually built with the blades on the opposite side from right-handed scissors. Scissors work by pushing the blades together as well as squeezing the blades together in your hand. People who are left-handed and try to squeeze right-handed scissors often end up pushing the blades apart instead. You can try this at home yourself to see how different it is. For left-handed children, you should purchase left-handed scissors. Or, if you catch them at an early age, you may be able to teach a left-handed child to use right-handed scissors, since many children are still somewhat ambidextrous at early ages. If they are still having trouble with right-handed scissors by age 6, get them true left-handed scissors.

See below for project ideas that involve scissors.

(Collage by Chloe Hodgson)

For very young artists, you may need to help with these projects and supervise just a little. At early ages the child will probably be very eager to use the scissors all by themselves, and may not care so much about mistakes they may make while cutting. However, if you have an older child (age 7-10ish) who still needs to develop good scissor skills, some of these art projects (like paper dolls) may be daunting and very frustrating for them if they don't feel confident. You may want to start with something else (like snowflakes or collages-below) and work your way up to paper dolls. Work with your child to help make it fun and supervise to make sure the child isn't getting impatient or frustrated. Only help with the difficult parts- like cutting out very delicate parts, skinny parts, etc. Your child should be doing most of the cutting.

Paper Dolls

Giving and encouraging children to cut out and play with paper dolls will help them improve their scissor skills very rapidly- while they have fun. If you have trouble finding paper dolls, check out Ebay! You should be able to find some that would interest boys as well as girls. I've seen Buzz Lightyear ones.

Snowflakes

This is really a holiday project in my opinion, but go ahead, make them in the spring! They are so fun!

It's best to start out with a square piece of paper. Fold the square paper in half (regularly or along the diagonal). Then fold it in half again or into thirds- any way that is symmetrical. Keep folding until you have a small shape that is not too thick to cut. Then begin cutting out shapes along the folded edges and sides. Try cutting out triangles, squares, and heart-shapes. Then unfold the paper and voila! A snowflake! Once the child gets the knack (it won't take long) he/she will want to start experimenting by folding the paper different ways and cutting different shapes and places. You can have them cut over a trash can if you don't want to deal with lots of paper bits.

Collages

Collages often have a theme associated with them that tie all the parts together, but not necessarily. You could have a collage of many pictures and things that you use just because you like them! Some collages are placed and glued down in no particular order, others are placed in patterns with similar items appearing in many places, or next to each other.

Help you child come up with a theme. You could pick something like "Your Dream Vacation" or Fashion Fever." Or you could do a collage of photos of past events. Next, start choosing what photos, pictures, newspaper or magazine clippings you want to include. Then decide on embellishments, like glitter, rhinestones, stars, leaves, pressed flowers, confetti, fake jewels, rubber stamps, ribbon, beads, drawings, paint, etc...You'll need to decide how big the collage will be and what you will place it on. You can use a large poster board, decorate a wooden frame or include this as a page in your scrapbook. As you place the items where you want them, start with the larger items first. Things can overlap, in fact it's good if they do! Glue them down using craft glue. You can then coat the whole thing with a varnish or a clear acrylic paint if you wish. Have fun!

All Students in the current Eastside Enrichment "Young @ Art" classes will have one piece of artwork on display from Saturday, May 24 through Friday, June 6th. Artwork will be displayed at Starbucks in Issaquah (the one in front of QFC on Gilman Blvd.). Please come enjoy some coffee and check out all the wonderful artwork!

Students and their families are invited to the open house this Saturday, May 24 from 10:00 - noon. Students will each receive a free hot chocolate and can have their photo taken next to their artwork.

Hope to see you all there!

We are now offering a separate selection of classes for students age 11 - 18. These classes will still involve drawing from real life, but with themes geared towards teens, their interests, and their skills. The first class is "Fashion Illustration." (See below for more information)

Starting this Fall we will begin offering other classes like Intermediate Drawing, Watercolor Landscapes, Botanical Illustration, Still Life Studies, and more.