The adventures of Jingle, Our Christmas Elf Day 19: Jingle obviously decided we had not decorated our home enough for his liking. We found him in the kitchen sitting in a cupcake tower stand and he had left a pile of paper shapes ready to be assembled into a paper chain.
He had very thoughtfully made sure the colours of the papers were in keeping with the colours we had chosen for our decor this year. Not very bright and child-like but rather muted tones of golds and reds.
Making a paper chain is a really easy but also really effective way to make decorations that can add to your home decorations and allow children to feel involved in making these. I found that my 4 year old was able to do these with a little help as he found matching the ends up straight a little challenging. My 6 year old struggled a little with the self adhesive strips and my 8 year old was able to do this unaided. You could also use a stapler to make certain they do not break apart.
They look really pretty draped around our home.
How to make a Paper Chain
All you need to make your own paper chain is paper and glue or double sided tape.
- Choose a few colours of patterned paper or different plain colours. A relatively thick paper or card works best.
- Cut strips about 15 cm long and 5 cm wide (carrying the length and width will give you a different effect to the look of your paper chain).
- Take your first strip and make it into a ring shape by gluing the two short ends together.
- Slip the next strip through the first ring and glue the two short ends together. Keep on alternating paper colours or patterns.
- Continue interlinking rings until the chain is long enough for the space you want to decorate.
- A small paper chain (thin strips) can look really lovely in place of tinsel on your tree.
- A thicker shorter strip makes a good decoration along the walls and windows.
I am a preschool and primary school teacher and mum to 3 children. I have been involved in education since 1997 and have trained in a variety of educational specialist areas. It is with this expertise that I write articles to help parents and educators provide quality learning experiences for the children in their care.
