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 countdown chain 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 simple paper chain countdown and customize it for any occasion.
Countdown Chain Tutorial
Supplies Needed:
- colored paper (construction paper works best)
- scissors
- tape
- markers
How To Make A Countdown Paper Chain:
Your kids are going to love this fun activity!
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 for the first day of school. This also works well for the end of school and counting down the days of school left.
If you don’t have any special occasions coming up, you could make one for a holiday like Halloween, or even Easter! As a fun variation, you make a paper countdown chain to celebrate Christmas day. Just start with December 1st and it will be sort of like a cool paper advent calendar and double as cute Christmas decorations.
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 a Halloween countdown chain, 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 paper strips that correlate to the number of days till the big day.
After all your strips of paper are cut out, start taping the ends of each strip of paper together to make loops. Interlock each paper link to the previous one to create a chain link. For your last link 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 countdown chains. Pretty easy right?
Then each day that goes by, young children will have so much fun getting to remove one paper link form the chain and see the days literally growing shorter until the big event. It is a simple way to make time fly! This easy craft is such a fun way to celebrate your favorite holidays.
Have you ever made a paper countdown chain 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?
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