I designed this High Holidays Connect the Symbols: Pre-Writing and Cutting Practice activity specifically for my preschooler to practice these skills in a fun way connected to the holiday.
What You’ll Need
- High Holidays Connect the Symbols free printable
- Crayon
- Scissors
Putting It Together
- Print High Holidays Connect the Symbols free printable.
- Invite your child to connect the symbols by tracing the lines. Talk about each symbol as they trace.
- Invite your child to cut along the lines from symbol to matching symbol.
Finished & Loving It!
My preschooler has been much less interested in drawing and cutting than his older siblings were at his age. I try to provide opportunities that are fun and interesting, as well as short, to practice these necessary pre-writing and cutting skills. We’ve done lots of connecting matching stickers by either tracing or drawing his own line. I thought he would have fun doing the same type of activity with a High Holidays theme.
This activity was not meant to be tricky or challenging in trying to find the matching symbol; I really just wanted to focus on the tracing and cutting practice. My preschooler was super into it. We brought out some of our special rock crayons (great for helping develop and practice that pincher grip!) and he went right to work. He also enjoyed identifying each of the symbols. The symbols are the same ones I used for our Rosh Hashanah Montessori-Style 3 Part Cards so he was familiar with them and enjoyed feeling successful in their identification.
Lately I’ve noticed that my preschooler switches hands when he is drawing. He has not done this while eating or with other activities where there is a dominant hand. But I know it’s important to develop hand dominance so that he can be successful in writing and cutting. It was interesting watching him do this activity because he seemed to alternate using each hand while doing the tracing portion. He did not seem to make the switch because his hand got tired. All this observation is helpful for me to know what activities to work on to help develop his hand dominance and also if we need to seek out help from an occupational therapist.
Cutting has been a huge challenge for my preschooler. This activity was actually too challenging for him; he still needs to work with snips and straight lines. The wavy and zig zag lines are just too advanced for him right now. When I realized that I told him not to worry about following the lines, but instead to just work to get to the matching symbol. This new direction worked well and he felt successful and not unnecessarily frustrated.
This High Holidays Connect the Symbols: Pre-Writing and Cutting Practice activity was such a good reminder about how different each child is (even from their own siblings!) and how important it is to take time to observe your child and tailor activities that are appropriately challenging but not overwhelmingly frustrating to them. I of course also liked that it was another way to practice the High Holidays symbols too!
If you’re looking for further reading about hand dominance and bilateral coordination, I found these resources helpful!
http://blog.handwritingwithkatherine.com/hand-dominance-a-key-factor-in-handwriting-success/
https://www.griffinot.com/scissor-skills-children/
Check out our High Holidays Hub for more information, resources, and lots of activities for you and your kids to explore this Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur!
A few of our favorite quick references:
For some of our favorite High Holiday books, take a look at our Bookshop.org With Love, Ima Storefront (each purchase supports local bookstores!).
Looking for a fun way to incorporate apples and honey into your Rosh Hashanah celebrations? Check out these delicious products from Nuts.com! We LOVE Nuts.com and think your tummies will love these goodies too. Shanah Tovah!
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[…] had so much fun with our Rosh Hashanah Connect the Symbols Activity that I knew it would not only be an important skill-builder, but also a good time, to do a Hanukkah […]