The boys are super excited for Christmas this year. So to keep their excitement contained and still keep them excited… we created one of the most timeless, old-fashioned, activity countdowns that there is… the paper chain.
Instead of the usual paper or card stock, we used leftover wrapping paper from last year.
I love using things we have on hand, and especially reusing something that would normally just get thrown out.
What other items around the house could be used to make a countdown chain?
Henry and I cut the wrapping paper into strips for our countdown paper chain.
The wrapping paper that we used has a grid on the back, so cutting it was very easy for Henry to do… he just simply followed the lines as he cut.
After cutting 25 strips of paper wrapping paper, Henry and I made the chain.
It seems simple enough to an adult. Henry got the hang of it right away, but then towards the end, he either grew tired of it or just got confused.
Threading the strip of paper through the previous loop and then overlapping them to make the loop and securing it with a piece of tape. Henry started to struggle when it came to overlapping the piece to make the loop, he kept putting the ends together instead of overlapping.
It was great counting practice as we made it too! Henry kept counting them [over and over, and over again] to see if we had made enough yet.
He’ll get to count even more each day as we remove a piece of the paper chain to see how many days are left until Christmas!
Are you counting down to Christmas this year?
We did a school countdown earlier this year to get Henry excited for school to start too! It’s a twist on the 25 books of Christmas!
Henry is 4.5 years old.
About Jamie Reimer
I did this today with my boys – awesome idea! we decorated our tree with miniature versions – our first real tree too (no plastic this year)- feeling very authentic and down to earth right now- thanks!
Great idea to put it on the tree! Simple (or maybe just the classics!) is often best, isn’t it?