Paper Chain Decorations
Have fun making paper chain decorations and develop your scissor skills.
What you need:
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Wax crayons, felt tips, paint, oil pastels etc.
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Plain paper (you can also use construction paper or wrapping paper)
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Ruler
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Scissors
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Tape or glue
What to do:
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EITHER: Use wax crayons, felt tips etc. to decorate a piece of plain paper in any way you like.
Top tip:
Covering all of the paper with lots of different colours will make your finished paper chain more vibrant.OR: Choose the pieces of coloured construction/wrapping paper that you want to use.
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Use a ruler and a pen to draw, or dot, straight lines across your paper, from one side to the other. (You may need to ask someone to help you do this.)
Top tip: Straight lines are the easiest to cut along. Try challenging your cutting skills by drawing curvy or zig-zag lines across the paper.
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Cut along the lines you have drawn to make strips of paper.
Top tip: Use your "helping hand", the hand you are not holding your scissors in, to hold and turn the paper as you cut.
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Take one strip of paper and bend it into a loop/ring. Tape or glue the ends together.
Top tip: If you are using glue, paper-clip the two ends of loop together until the glue is dry.
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Get another strip of paper and thread it through the loop that you have just made. Tape or glue the ends of the strip together.
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Continue making loops out of strips of paper until your paper chain is as long as you want it.
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Hang your paper chain decoration up, or use it to wrap around something, e.g. branches.
Remember paper chains can be a fire hazard if they are hung over lamps, candles, or a fireplace.
Activity develops:
- Fine motor skills
- Scissor skills. These develop fine motor strength, bilateral co-ordination (the ability to co-ordinate the movement of both hands together) and visual motor integration (in this case communication between the eyes and the hands)
- Language skills
- Creativity
Other posts that you might like: Take a pencil for a walk and get creative!