Roll and Cut

A really simple number work and scissor skill activity that is a perfect 'quiet time' toddler challenge in the afternoon.

Roll and cut set up.

What you need:

- children-safe scissors

- paper or card (we used some fun patterned card scraps)

- a dice

- a tray (to contain the mess)

How it works:

This activity couldn't be any simpler really. Just prompt your child to roll the dice and cut a piece of paper of their choice into that many pieces.

For example, my son rolled a '2' so he chose a piece of paper and cut it into two pieces. It took a while for him to get the concept of it not being the number of cuts, but the number of pieces of paper. Once he had finished cutting I asked him to put the pieces into a pot and count them out to me to check he had the correct number.

Rolling his '2'.

Concentrating very hard to cut the paper into two pieces.

After a few turns I then made the activity a little harder by challenging him to try and cut the pieces of paper into the same size pieces. It was interesting trying to watch him plan his cuts but he did find this rather difficult. Nice to see him trying so hard though.