In this blog post: Get directions for how to make Scissor Salad to practice scissor cutting and build fine motor skills this back to school season. You will also find a free Scissor Salad tag and cutting practice worksheets.
If you teach preschool, pre-k, or Kindergarten, then you know that using scissors at the beginning of the school year can be… challenging at best.
Many of our students have never used scissors before, and some still lack the fine motor skills to cut properly.
I’m always looking for new ways to build up those fine motor skills and practice cutting with scissors in the classroom. So when Katie L. in our Teacher Facebook group asked if I could make printables to go along with the scissor salad lesson, I was intrigued.
I could not for the life of me find where this lesson originated, and it seems like it might be one of those lessons that have been around for years and years. However, I did find a great example from Kindergartenworks here.
No matter where it started, this lesson has taken off in popularity again, and I’m sure it’s because of how simple yet engaging it is!
What is scissor salad?
Scissor salad is exactly what it sounds like. Students are using scissors to make a paper salad! This idea to practice scissor cutting skills couldn’t be easier, but it packs a lot of essential fine motor skills into one activity.
P.S. If you’re looking for more ideas to teach scissor cutting skills, check out this blog post: How To Teach Cutting With Scissors.
How to make scissor salad
To make scissor salad, first give students a paper plate and green strips of paper. Students will begin by tearing the green strips of paper into smaller pieces to make the lettuce.
Then, give students strips of orange paper. This is where the cutting practice begins!
Students will practice snipping with scissors to cut shredded “carrots” for their salad.
They will repeat this with yellow strips of paper to make the “cheese” for their salad.
Now, you can absolutely stop right there. You officially have scissor salad!
However, if you think your students are ready for it, you can also give them squares of red paper and ask them to cut out round tomatoes.
You can also make this optional only if students want to add tomatoes, which puts a little less pressure on them.
And now you’ve made scissor salad! How easy and fun was that?
Sending your scissor salad home
You have a few choices for sending the scissor salad home. You probably don’t want to just sent a pile of cut up paper with no explanation, but you could!
One option is to have students glue their salad pieces to the paper plate. Then, they can glue the Scissor Salad label on their plate.
The Scissor Salad label is included in your free scissor salad printables download below.
Another option is to scoop all of that salad up and put it in a plastic baggie. Add the Scissor Salad label to the front to explain what this bag of paper shreds is all about to parents!
This is a fun and meaningful fine motor activity by itself, but since I was making the scissor salad labels, I did want to add just a little more.
Scissor cutting practice pages
To extend the learning after making scissor salad, you can use the included salad-themed scissor cutting practice pages (talk about a mouth full)!
These fine motor practice activities are perfect for practicing snipping, cutting a straight line, and cutting out shapes.
The scissor cutting worksheets included are:
1. Snipping around the page – Students will snip on the lines to reach the tomatoes. After, they can color the big salad in the middle (did that spark a Seinfeld quote for anyone else?)
2. Cutting lines – Students will practice cutting up the straight lines to reach the salads. If your students have difficulty staying on the line, you can try tracing it with a highlighter to make the path wider and more obvious. You could also have them place stickers on the lines and then cut up. This provides some resistance to the scissors.
3. Cutting picture – The scissor cutting picture is great because it combines multiple fine motor skills into one sheet. Students will cut out the lettuce pieces and then glue them on the plate. They can also color the finished picture. If you want, you can even let them stick red dot stickers as tomatoes!
Check Out These Images!
Get the free scissor salad printables here!
Want to make scissor salad with your class this year? You can download the free Scissor Salad labels and fine motor worksheets below:
Do you love free stuff?
Scissor Salad Printables
Practice making scissor salad with your class to work on fine motor and scissor cutting skills. Then, wrap it up with these free printables!
Having trouble? School districts often block emails with outside downloads. I always suggest using a personal email address instead of a school district account.
If you’re looking for tips to fix common cutting mistakes and ideas to practice scissor cutting skills, check out this blog post:
Looking for more ideas and freebies this back to school season? Check out these blog posts:
- Free All About Me Backpack Craft
- Free Back to School Science of Reading Literacy Centers
- Free Kindergarten Back to School Centers
- Free First Grade Back to School Centers
- Free First Day of School Crowns
- Free First Day of Kindergarten Lesson Plans
Happy back to school!
Natalie Lynn
