Paper chain Christmas garland with preschoolers

Age: 3+ · Time: 30 min · For: Ages 3–5 Ages 6–9

The paper chain is the classic Christmas decoration made by children all over the world, and for good reason: it is cheap, easy and every link is a little achievement. Preschoolers love watching the chain grow longer and longer.

What your child does, where you help

Your child: chooses the colours, glues the rings and threads them together.
You: cut the strips and help close the rings for younger children.

Learning through play

Make patterns together (red, green, red, green), count the links, or let older preschoolers cut the strips along the lines themselves.

Variations

Advent chain: write a small activity on each link, like "sing a Christmas song" or "draw a snowman".
Recycled chain: use old magazines, wrapping paper or last year's Christmas cards.

You need

coloured paper in a few colours (or white paper your child paints first)
a ruler and a pencil
scissors for the grown-up, and child-safe scissors (optional)
a glue stick, or tape
felt tips or stickers to decorate the strips (optional)

Steps

Draw lines on the paper and cut it into strips of about 2-3 cm wide and 15-20 cm long.
Let your child decorate the strips with felt tips or stickers first, if they like.
Roll the first strip into a ring and glue or tape the ends together.
Thread the next strip through the first ring and close it into a ring too.
Keep going, choosing colours in a pattern or at random, until the chain is long enough.
Hang the garland along a window, a doorway or the Christmas tree.