My kids love making paper chain countdowns when special events are coming up! We have always make one for Christmas and for birthdays. Making a paper chain countdown is a fun way to keep track of days before going on vacation or celebrating someone special coming to visit. They’re more fun than just going each day and looking at a calendar, at least for kids! These are so easy to make and take no time at all. The best thing about making these chains is that you more than likely have everything you need at home already and you can make a paper chain countdown and customize it for any occasion.
Back To School Paper Chain Countdown Tutorial
Supplies Needed:
- colored paper (construction paper works best)
- scissors
- tape
- markers
How To Make Paper Chain Countdowns:
First, you need to choose what occasion you will be making your paper chain countdown for! School has not started for my kiddos yet so we chose to make a Back To School paper chain countdown to help get prepared. If you don’t have any special occasions coming up, you could make one for a holiday like Halloween or Christmas, or even Easter! Those both would be very long chains but still fun!
Take your marker and sketch out what your chain will be hanging from. For us, we drew an apple for our back to school chain. If you have a birthday coming up, draw a cake or a present. For Halloween, you could draw a ghost or pumpkin and so on. Cut out your chain topper and set aside. Next, count how many days till your special occasion. Grab your scissors and several more sheets of construction paper and cut out strips that correlate to the number of days till your occasion.
After all your strips of paper are cut out, start taping the ends together to make loops. Interlock each paper loop to the previous one till you get to your last strip of paper. For your last loop which will actually be your first loop at the top, cut a slit close to the bottom of your paper chain topper (for us, it’s our apple) and slide the last piece of paper you have into the slit and tape the 2 ends together! Now you have your paper chain countdown!
If you want, write your occasion on your topper and include the date. That is how you make paper chain countdowns. Pretty easy right?
Have you ever made a paper chain countdown before? Try it the next time a special occasion is coming up! Kids of all ages love these and crafts are great for children’s development. Do your kids enjoy crafts?