I’m always looking for creative ways to combine nature with learning activities. My 2-year-old granddaughter, Zoey is working on her scissor skills, so I was excited to find an idea that combines one of her favorite activities with scissor cutting work.
Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links (at no cost to you). I was given a copy of A Bit of Dirt for social media sharing. I was not required to write a review (or write anything positive about the book). Everything here is honest and my opinion.
The nature cutting tray is just one of the creative ideas from Asia Citro’s new book A Little Bit of Dirt.
I’m a real fan of all three of Asia’s books, although this might actually be my favorite. Montessori education advocates plenty of time outdoors, and this book has is filled with wonderful, creative ideas for extending learning in nature.
Our Nature Walk
Zoey and I went on a very simple nature walk for this activity … out my front door. I decided to focus specifically on flowers, since we have so many beautiful spring flowers in San Diego right now.
Nature Walk with a 2 Year Old
We took our time, exploring all the plants and simply enjoying spending time outdoors.
Nature Cutting Tray
Nature Cutting Tray for Nature Walk with Adult and Child
For the cutting tray, I used a Multicraft tray, some Montessori Services baskets for whatever flowers and treasures we found, scissors for Zoey, and adult-size scissors for me. (I’ve had mine for a long time, so I don’t know if that exact style is still available.) I liked having the adult-size scissors along for the thicker flower stems, which I cut before Zoey did her cutting work.
Flower Cutting and Flower Cutting Tray
Asia’s book has lots of ideas and questions to ask to extend activities. We mainly used this activity for Zoey to cut some of the easier flowers. She did try cutting a stem and found that it was much more difficult to cut.
This activity was a great way to enjoy being outdoors while working on cutting skills and would be a great activity with a variety of plants at different times of the year.
See my post with resources for our nature tray using some of the flowers from our nature walk!
You’ll find many more Montessori-inspired ideas for working on scissor cutting skills in my roundup posts.
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I am going in the garden tomorrow with scissors, a few baskets, and all three of my kids! They all struggle with scissor skills (as does my husband), however, they all love working in the garden so I am sure this will get them to happily practice. Thank you!
What a great idea! My 3yo is not a crafter, but I think this would be a great way to help him work on his scissor skills. Thanks!
I love this idea! My daughter is only a few months than you granddaughter and I always get some inspiration from your blog. Thank you!