Kumon Book of Cutting Review

When Timberdoodle offered me the opportunity to review Kumon’s new My Book of Cutting, I agreed without hesitation. That’s because I’d already tried some of Kumon’s other skill building workbooks with a few of my grandchildren.

Builds Fine Motor Skills

This workbook is a little larger than the ones I’ve used in the past. It contains 39 activities designed to give kids practice using a pair of scissors, providing a fast, fun way to improve fine motor skills.

The first few activities are devoted to straight line cutting, but grow in difficulty as your child progresses through the book. After mastering cutting single straight lines, kids will learn to cut corners, diagonals, and sawtooth designs, before moving on to curved lines and spirals, then simple shapes.

Initially, I had to help my 3-year-old granddaughter by holding the paper steady for her. That allowed her to concentrate on holding the scissors properly and cutting along the thick gray lines. But she caught on quickly! Soon she was completing the projects without any help at all.

Even the 1-year-old wanted in on the action, although it may be awhile before he can complete even the simplest design without help. Even so, he enjoys watching and playing with the brightly colored projects once they’re finished.

The pages are thick enough to hold their shape while kids are cutting, but not so thick as to make cutting difficult. Even the dullest safety scissors can slice through the mid-weight paper without trouble.

Great Way to Occupy Little Ones

My favorite way to use these pages? To keep grandkids entertained while waiting for meals. They’re especially helpful when we take the whole crew out to eat and they have to sit still in their seats until the food arrives. Of our 20 grandkids (so far), twelve of them are age 5 and under — exactly the target age range for this work book!

But this activity could also be used to keep little ones occupied while older siblings are being homeschooled. If I had known about this Kumon Book of Cutting when my own kids were younger, I would have added it long ago to my list of ways to keep toddlers occupied while doing lessons with big brothers and sisters.

Do you have kids or grandkids who cut use some help with their scissor skills? Give the Kumon Book of Cutting a try. You’ll find it (along with a lot of other great products) in Timberdoodle’s newest catalog.

While you’re on the Timberdoodle website, I’d encourage you to look around. We love everything we’ve ever ordered from this small family-owned company!

Be sure to sign up for their Doodle Dollar program to save on future purchases. And to read more of my Timberdoodle Reviews, follow this link.

PLEASE NOTE: As a member of the Timberdoodle blog team, I routinely receive free or deeply discounted products in exchange for writing honest reviews. Opinions expressed in these posts are 100% my own. I’ve been a happy and enthusiastic Timberdoodle customer for decades — long before I ever started blogging for their company.