Yarn Cutting- An Easy Way to Practice Scissor Skills for Toddlers and Kids

If you are looking for a way to keep your toddler and young children entertained, this activity was amazing! Scroll down to read how we set up this ultimately low prep activity.

There is virtually no prep for this activity, aside from gathering the supplies.

Here’s What You Need

• Scissors. I love a classic, but am also intrigued by loop scissors for the younger toddlers. I don’t own any loop scissors, so can’t say they would for sure cut yarn.

• Yarn or ribbon. I have a ton of spare ribbon in the house, but also purchased a pack of yarn at some point and it has come in handy often. Ribbon is great for older kids, but the yarn was easier to manage for my 3.5 year old.

• Optional- a snack container or water bottle with a straw hole. This kept all the yarn and ribbon contained and we avoided any tangles or knots! So optional, but I cannot recommend it enough.

• Container to put the strings in.

Set up

1 minute

1. Gather all of the supplies.

2. Place the yarn or ribbon in the container and thread through the hole. The kids had a blast picking out the different colors!

3. Let the kids cut to their heart’s content.

I kept some of the smaller spools of ribbon on the spool, so clean up was a breeze. For the yarn, I cut a good sized length and stuffed it inside the jar. We used clear glass jars for photos, but any container with a hole in the lid will work.

Clean Up

1-2 minutes

1. Collect all of the strings. We saved ours for another activity, so nothing was wasted.

I gave each of the kids a container to put their cuttings into. This also made cleanup easier. We saved these strings for a few other activities, so they were ready to store.

This activity was so simple and I wasn’t sure how interested our 5.5 year old would be, but everyone LOVED it! They cut ribbon and yarn for over 30 minutes! The cups avoided any knots, so my hands were free the entire time! It was very easy to change out colors which kept the kids engaged. After I snapped all of my photos and stepped away to clean the kitchen, they were both able to trade out colors multiple times independently.

This is a great way to work on scissor skills, but honestly some days I’m just looking for something easy for them to do. This activity was glorious on both accounts. The ribbon was a little tough for Vaila, so yarn is definitely the way to go for younger kids or kids still trying to master cutting.

If you are looking for an activity that is so simple it’s silly, this is it! Yarn, scissors, and maybe a water bottle and you are set to go! Be sure to check back for what we did with our yarn cuttings! We’ve already finished one of the activities and I have the other one planned to photograph soon.

Cheers to a peaceful, warm, and joy filled day, especially if this activity helps get you there.

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