Left-handed scissors

[mikeys_mom]

DD3 is almost 5yo and her teachers have both told me that they are pretty confident that she is left handed. DH and I have suspect that she is left-handed for at least a year now. I'd like to get a couple pairs of left-handed scissors for her to use at home because I see that she struggles using the regular ones with her left hand. In school they give her left-handed ones.

There seem to be two different styles and I'm not sure if one is better than the other. At school she says she is using one similar to the first link below with both finger holes the same size. I've always bought the ones with one big and one smaller finger hole for my other kids, similar to the second link below. No particular reason, it just seemed like it gave them better control and I know that I find that style more comfortable, personally.

http://www.toolsforkids.ca/products/left-handed-scissors

http://www.amazon.ca/Fiskars-94337097-Precision-Softgrip-Left-Handed/dp/B00CAO9UVO/ref=pd_sim_sbs_k_1

Which would you get for a lefty who is still learning how to cut properly?

[georgiegirl]

My dd is a lefty and has never used left handed scissors. She's in second grade. We buy regular kids fiskars.

I think the fiskars ones look better.

[vonfirmath]

My husband and my son are left-handed.

Both use right-handed scissors. My husband claims they don't make decent left handed scissors so it is best for DS to learn to use the right handed ones so he has a wide supply of scissors available. (Yes, it took DS a bit longer to learn to cut. But he's 6, first grade, and does a decent job now.)

[MontrealMum]

I am LH and so is FIL so we figured DS had a pretty good chance of being a lefty as well. He's 6 and it's still kind of up in the air, actually. In any case, I wasn't able to find LH scissors like they had when I was a kid when I first started looking for him. In fact, many of the kid scissors out there can be used by either hand. Like these: http://www.amazon.ca/Fiskars-12-94167198IDSJ-Classic-5-Inch-Scissors/dp/B00005BZRZ/ref=sr_1_1?s=kitchen&ie=UTF8&qid=1386790816&sr=1-1&keywords=fiskars+two+handed+scissors We have several similar pairs and they work fine. I actually cut with my RH most of the time because it was more expedient to learn to do that as a kid, so I appreciate having scissors that can go both ways.

[mikeys_mom]

Hmmm, very interesting that lefty kids have learned to use right-handed scissors. We had parent teacher interviews this week and the teacher was showing us her cutting work. I know that I shouldn't compare to her twin, who is right handed, but it is like night and day. DD3 can barely cut a straight line and DD2 seems to have mastered cutting at all different angles. I have tried to show her how to use the right-handed ones but it's a disaster and she gets frustrated and just ends up ripping the paper.

I also think the Fiskars look better.

[sariana]

Interesting--I thought scissors no longer were "handed." DD just uses the same as everyone else. The scissors we have at home (Westcott) were labeled for right- or left-handed use. I think I got them at Staples.

[YouAreTheFocus]

My 4yo DS also needs to work on cutting, so I got him Crayola Scissors and some cutting workbooks. The scissors claim to be for RH or LH and have great reviews. We are pretty sure he's LH, but he will switch back and forth sometimes.

http://www.amazon.com/Crayola-Blunt-Scissors-Colors-Vary/dp/B00004UBGU/ref=pd_sbs_t_3

The workbooks I got are:
http://www.amazon.com/Cutting-Pasting-Flash-Preschool-Activity/dp/1411458079/ref=sr_1_12?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1386792173&sr=1-12
www.amazon.com/Paper-Kumon-First-Steps-Workbooks/dp/193580023X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1386792213&sr=1-1

The age range is low, but I wanted to start with something that wouldn't be overwhelming so he could have some success. I don't find them too babyish looking.

[mikeys_mom]

In fact, many of the kid scissors out there can be used by either hand. Like these: http://www.amazon.ca/Fiskars-12-94167198IDSJ-Classic-5-Inch-Scissors/dp/B00005BZRZ/ref=sr_1_1?s=kitchen&ie=UTF8&qid=1386790816&sr=1-1&keywords=fiskars+two+handed+scissors We have several similar pairs and they work fine.

Ok, so now that I'm looking closely at the scissors we currently have, I think most of them are similar to the one linked which supposedly can be used with either hand. When I position them in DD's left hand, they just look so awkward and she can't control them properly. She is supposed to be starting OT at school shortly for both scissor cutting skills and handwriting, maybe that will help more than the left-handed scissors. Now I'm completely confused as to whether I should even try the left handed scissors or not. :dizzy:

My father is left-handed and he uses regular scissors but says it's never been an easy skill for him.

[westwoodmom04]

My son is left-handed and he does prefer the special left-handed scissors, but will use either kind. I do think it is easier for him to cut with the left-handed version.

[MontrealMum]

Ok, so now that I'm looking closely at the scissors we currently have, I think most of them are similar to the one linked which supposedly can be used with either hand.


Some are better than others. The best ones we have came from Bureau en Gros in a Fiskars multi pak and they were all either/or. The kid-specific Crayola scissors we have suck. Strangely, DS is mostly writing with his right hand now, but he cuts left. Although he generally has always had very good fine motor control he found cutting and writing more difficult than his same age friends and really didn't master either until this past summer. He's never had OT.

I learned to cut with my right hand because the lefty scissors back in the 70's weren't as sharp (as someone said upthread) and there was usually only 1 pr. for the entire class to share. I don't remember if I was delayed on that or not, but I'm pretty handy now :)

[jillmk]

When my DD was first learning to cut she found left handed scissors easier to use--specifically the Fiskars in your second link. The ones that were supposedly for both right and left were slightly more challenging for her. Now they she is older (seven) she has no real preference, or maybe even a slight preference for the ones that can be used in either hand since that is what they have in school.

[Thatchermom]

Dd is lefty. In preschool she used the right/left scissors and her cutting was miserable. This year for Kindy we got her true lefty scissors and she is much improved.

Neither of us are lefty, nor is anyone else in our family so we are learning as we go. The site we ordered her scissors from was eye-opening to us. So many differences! I felt bad there were a few thing she struggled with that I just didn't understand were lefty trouble. We found them here:

https://www.leftyslefthanded.com/Lefty_s_Left_Handed_Kid_Scissors_p/903208.htm

[mikeys_mom]

Thanks for all the input. Good to hear that there are kids who found the left-handed scissors easier at first. I'll try the Fiskars ones and see if it helps her out a bit.

[swissair81]

I have two lefty kids (so far I only know the handedness of my three oldest). Neither of them use lefty scissors. I bought them for my oldest in first or second grade and she didn't like them.

[baileygirl]

I bought the Fiskar scissors you posted in second link for my left handed son and he seems to like them. I will say he still cuts well if he uses the scissors in his classroom (guessing either right handed or designed for either).

[abh5e8]

i also have these

http://www.amazon.com/Fiskars-94337097-Precision-Softgrip-Left-Handed/dp/B0020MLI4S/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1386861167&sr=8-1&keywords=left+hand+scissors

for my ds who is a lefty and he cuts much better with them. (but my mom, who is a leftie, cuts right handed).