Scissors facts for kids

Scissors are used for sewing, in the kitchen, and for paper.

Scissors are a tool used for cutting thin material like:

• paper
• cardboard
• metal foil
• thin plastic
• food
• cloth
• rope
• wire
• hair
• nail

Knives are better than scissors for some uses. Unlike a knife, scissors have two sharp edges. Some types of scissors, like children's scissors, are not very sharp. Children's scissors are often protected with plastic. These are called "Safety Scissors".

Scissors can be made for left-handed or right-handed people. Using scissors made for the wrong hand is very hard for most people.

There are many kinds of scissors used for cutting different materials and shapes.

Specialized scissors

Among specialized scissors and shears used for different purposes are:

Gardening, agriculture and animal husbandry

Type	Image	Description/purpose
Hedge trimmers		for trimming hedges
Grass shears		for trimming grass
Averruncators		for trimming high branches
Pruning shears or secateurs		for trimming small branches
Loppers		for cutting through large branches
Blade shears		for cutting an animal's fleece to harvest wool

Food and drug

Type	Image	Description/purpose
Kitchen scissors or kitchen shears		For food preparation, but often used for a variety of other purposes. Today, kitchen scissors are usually made from stainless steel for food hygiene and oxidization-resistance reasons. They often have kitchen functionality (other than cutting) incorporated, such as bottle-cap, to fish scale, to crack nuts and bottle-openers built into the handles.
Poultry shears		to cut poultry
Cigar cutter		specialized scissors with concave blade edges to cut cigars

Grooming

Type	Image	Description/purpose
Hair-cutting shears		for trimming hair
Thinning shears		for thinning thick hair to avoid a bushy look
Hair clippers		for cutting hair by barbers, hairdressers, and pet groomers
Nail scissors		for cutting finger- and toenails
Moustache scissors		for trimming moustaches
Nose scissors		small scissors for nostril hair, blunt-ended to protect the sensitive interior of the nose

Metalwork

Type	Image	Description/purpose
Snips		for cutting through sheet metal.
Tin, or tinner, snips
Compound action snips
Pipe and duct snips
Hydraulic cutters		for cutting heavy sheet metal, often in traffic collisions. Sometimes referred to by the genericized trademark "Jaws of Life".
Throatless shears		for cutting complex shapes in sheet metal

Medical

Type	Image	Description/purpose
Trauma shears, or "tuff cuts"		for use in emergency medical response and rescue should it be necessary to cut off clothing. The rounded tips are designed to slide across the patient's skin without causing injury.
Dissection scissors		for cutting flesh in dissection
Surgical scissors		for cutting flesh in surgery
Iris scissors		for ophthalmic surgery
Metzenbaum scissors		for delicate surgery
Tenotomy scissors		for delicate surgery
Mayo scissors		often for cutting fascia
Bandage scissors		for cutting bandages

Ceremonial

Type	Image	Description/purpose
Ceremonial scissors		giant scissors used for ceremonial ribbon-cutting events

Sewing and clothes-making

Type	Image	Description/purpose
All purpose, or Crafting scissors		With long blades and pointy tips, designed to cut long, straight, smooth cuts in a variety of materials, as well as to get into small areas with the tips. In sewing applications they are primarily used for non-fabric cutting applications, such as cutting out paper patterns.
Applique scissors		An offset handle and paddle-shaped blade pushes away the bottom layer of fabric for controlled cuts close the stitching. Designed to cut/trim close to the fabric while protecting it from damage, and used for applique work and rug making.
Button hole scissors		Adjustable, short-bladed, heavy-duty scissors for opening button holes.
Dress-makers shears		Dressmaker's shears have a long blade (typically 7–10"), to facilitate cutting out fabric. Blades are tapered, with one pointed and one rounded tip; the blunt tip prevents fabric from snagging on seams and threads. Blades have a "knife edge": the top blade is set at an acute angle which allows them to cut through fabric easier than scissors. More heavy-duty than general scissors, the bottom blade sits flush on the table- making it easier to cut accurately through fabric.
Embroidery snips		Small scissors without loopholes for the fingers, which have a fine pointy tip, designed to get close to the fabric without damaging it. These snips feature a curved blade, to facilitate getting as close as possible to the base of a thread without damaging the garment.
Pinking shears		for cutting cloth and producing a serrated edge so that the fabric does not fray.
Sewing chatelaine scissors		Chatelaine is a French term meaning "mistress of a castle, chateau or stately home", and dates back to the Middle Ages. It refers to an ornamental clasp or hook from which chains were hung from the waist, holding perhaps, a purse, watch, keys, scissors or thimble case. The sewing chatelaine became a popular ornamental appendage worn by Victorian ladies at their waist, but disappeared when fashion changed and skirts were no longer full and long. Sewing chatelaines are now produced and worn as pendants around the neck.
Tailor's scissors		Designed to cut through heavy-duty materials like leather or multiple layers of fabric. Generally shorter in length (5″ blades are typical), with thicker blades that feature precision-ground knife-edges which cut all the way to the tip.

Images for kids

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  Han dynasty scissors

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  These shears are thought to date to the 2nd century A.D. and come from a Roman settlement in Trabzon, Turkey. The style of the "Egyptianizing" metal inlay designs suggests that they were made to imitate actual Egyptian art. When closed, the dog and cat figures at the tips come face to face.

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  Classic Italian-style kitchen scissors, often used to cut food. The two halves can be detached in order to be cleaned.

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  Left-handed (left) and right-handed (right) sidebent scissors

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  Chinese scissors, early to mid-Tang dynasty

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  A pair of iron scissors dating from the Han Dynasty

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  Fiskars scissors 1967

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  embroidery scissors in the form of a crane

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  A pair of shears

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  Scissors for cutting carpet pile

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  Scissors Pre 1850s iron from Norway, used to cut cloth.

See also

In Spanish: Tijera para niños