Practicing Scissor Skills with Carrot Stems

The other day I was doing some kitchen lessons on chopping carrots with my preschoolers, and just as I was about to discard the stems my son started using his scissors to cut the greens! I was happy to let him continue cutting, since practicing scissor skills is one of the preschool activities he seems to enjoy best (I think it’s the destructive nature of the task 😉 )

Supplies

This post contains affiliate links

• Preschool scissors (see our review of preschool and toddler scissors here)
• Carrots with the stems attached

Since it’s nearly Easter, lots of people have carrots in their fridge (hello, Easter bunny food!) We usually have the baby carrots as snacks, but this week I thought I’d get a little more festive and include the big carrots with the greens attached.

As I taught my kiddos to chop carrots for soup, I was just discarding the stems into a pile on the counter. Little did I know my preschooler had better plans in mind for our carrot tops!

He pulled out his trusty preschool scissors and went to town giving that carrot a haircut!

Do you know which scissors are best for your preschooler? Find out here! 

He was very meticulous about the way he cut- leafy part of the stems first, then the rest…

…and he made sure to cut each piece over and over into minuscule little pieces! This “work” brought him so much joy! (it’s the little things!)

What I love about this activity:

• The amazing fine motor skills it promotes!
• The opportunity for kids to stay busy while I cook (let’s be real- this is a BIG bonus for me 😉 )
• It lets kids practice scissors skills in an authentic way. When kids see that they are not just doing “busy work,” but instead are allowed to participate in real-life experiences, motivation increases and”schoolwork” doesn’t feel like such a chore 🙂

Read our Tips for Teaching Scissor Skills to learn more!

Ways to expand this activity:

• Teach the phrase “waste not, want not” – research ways to use carrot tops in recipes and have the kids help prepare those recipes (they’ve already chopped the greens for you anyways!)
• Ofer some more fine motor practice by letting kids smash the stems with a mortar and pestle.

Share your ideas with me!

Have a new way to use carrot tops? I’d love to see it! share it with me on Instagram by tagging @munchkins_and_moms!