Kindergarten Cutting Activity

We have had lots of talk about Kindergarten around our house this week. I just registered Connor, our 5 1/2-year old, for Kindergarten on Tuesday and yesterday morning was the Kindergarten Preview at the school he’ll be attending. So it seemed appropriate to have some cutting fun that Carol Zook, one of our favorite guest contributors and a former kindergarten teacher of 34 years, shared with me. It’s an easy first cutting practice activity she used to do with her kindergarten classes just using a folded sheet of newspaper.

 

Kindergarten Cutting Activity

Carol’s instructions:

  1. Draw lines with a wide marker from the open edge of the folded sheet of newspaper almost to the creased edge opposite it. (Maybe an inch or so apart.)
  2. Stop the line when you are about 2 inches from the fold.
  3. Have your child cut the paper from the open edge to the end of each line. You’ll have lots of little strips of paper held together on the top.
  4. After all the cutting was done, my boys enjoyed wearing the paper as a “beard”. We taped it on the sides of their hair (they didn’t mind if it was only for a short time). My girls rolled up the paper and taped it to make a “pony tail” that we fastened to the back of their hair with a bobby pin. They thought they were cool.

 

I had Connor do Carol’s cutting activity and he loved it!  “I’m cutting fast, Mom!”, “Am I doing good?!” and “I got this side done already!” were his cheerful little comments!

Kindergarten Cutting Activity -- Connor cutting

 

After he finished cutting, I asked Connor what he thought we could do or make with the newspaper. He gave several thoughtful answers… monster teeth, a carwash, a hat, or “you can put it on your head and make hair that hangs down on your forehead”. Wow! Such creativity! I asked what he thought about making a beard so I could have a picture to go with this post. He wasn’t having the beard, but he was excited about making a hat!  (Note: I used a sales flier for this activity and it was too short to wrap around his head… I taped it to his hair. So if a hat is your desired project, it is best to use a full-size page of newspaper.)

 

Kindergarten Cutting Activity -- Connor wearing his hat

 

We then took this strip of newsprint and taped it to the legs of our endtable to make a car wash. Connor thought it was great fun sending his monster truck through the car wash to get all the mud off it! (Good pretend play time here!)

 

Connor with newspaper carwash

 

Funny thing is, after my husband got home from work, I asked Connor to tell Daddy what we had done special that day. I was expecting him to share that we had gotten him registered for Kindergarten that morning. Instead, the highlight of his day was this cutting activity!

 

 

Carol Zook; msalishacarlson.com/Carol Zook grew up in a small town with two younger brothers.  She realized she loved children’s books when she took Children’s Literature in college.  One of her favorite part of the school day was reading aloud to her classes.  She misses that so much.  Carol is God’s child, Vaughn’s wife and was a “3 hour mom” to over 1,500 Kindergarten students.  She has been published in Pockets, The Secret Place, Guardian Angel Kids e-zine, Learn Every Day About Numbers and Learn Every Day About Social Studies.

 

 

Carol has been a blessing to so many kids and adults alike with her creativity, spunk, and caring personality. I hope you and your children find joy in this activity and are blessed by the time you get to spend together doing it!

Alisha

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