Paper Towel Roll Haircuts- Scissor Skills for Toddlers and Preschoolers

Today’s post is short and sweet. Minimal set up, easy directions, and a somewhat contained mess to clean at the end! This activity is perfect to set up at the last minute and will keep the kids entertained for quite a while.

I think paper towel rolls work great here, but we often use toilet paper rolls because they are easier to work with for little hands and help keep the kids engaged with just enough of a challenge.

Here’s What You Need

• Paper towel or toilet paper rolls

• Scissors

• Markers

• A container or bowl to catch all of the “hair”

Set up

1-2 minutes

1. Draw faces on the paper towel rolls. You or your child can work on this step.

2. Cut slits at the top to make “hair”. I usually do a few and then invite the kids to help with the rest. You can make these lines straight, diagonal, or zig zag.

3. Let your child give the paper towel people haircuts.

Clean Up

1 minute

1. Collect all of the “hair” trimmings and throw away or recycle.

2. Throw away or recycle all of the paper towel rolls.

The thickness of the paper towel rolls is a great way for kids to practice cutting. There is a lot of repetition and short cuts available in this activity, so it is more approachable for kids just learning how to use scissors while still providing enough interest for older kids. As I mentioned before, paper towel rolls will make long hair, so there will be more cutting opportunities. I think this is great for an older child, but we usually stick to toilet paper rolls because we have more of them available and we get to make more faces!

Drawing the faces and talking about different expressions is always fun. I’m a terrible artist, but I do my best and try to act confident when the kids have a specific request. I also encourage them to draw their own faces. Vaila got to use a permanent marker today and she felt like one cool chick!

One quick anecdote about hair cutting that serves as a cautionary tale. In our younger years, my sister and I cut our hair. We thought we were sneaky and only cut the hair closest to our necks, our thought was people (read: our mom) couldn’t tell just by looking at us and we wouldn’t get in trouble. We then had the brilliant idea of stuffing the hair into the floor vents so she wouldn’t find a bunch of hair in the trash. Cue the heat turning on and hair blowing everywhere when she came into our room and found us holding scissors and looking outrageously suspicious!

Needless to say, we have a lot of conversations in our house about how we only cut paper, NOT HAIR! The kids know and love this story from my childhood and will verbalize they know not to cut their hair. I fully trust Brinley in this regard, but I still don’t let Vaila use scissors unattended for too long.

I hope you get to try this low prep activity with the kids. I have a plastic bag full of paper towel and toilet paper rolls because we use them so often, but you can just save a few this week and have this activity at the ready this weekend.

I’d love to connect with you on social, so be sure to click the Instagram icon at the top of the page or click here if you want to follow me. Don’t forget to share this activity with someone who could use a new idea for the kids at home. Each picture can be pinned on Pinterest, so you can easily send this idea to a friend that way.

Wishing you a smooth sailing week and NO hair blowing through your AC or heating system any time soon!

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