When I was teeny tiny, my mom decided that we would make a paper chain for the Christmas tree. My older sister remembers her cutting out the long thin rectangles for us, and then letting us assemble them ourselves with paste, and, no doubt, a few hijinks (I have this vision of me as l’enfant terrible pasting one to a cat. I was always doing terrible things to the cats.) Did we stop at red and green? Oh no, not us. We assembled the technicolor dreamcoat of paper chains: loud, clangy, and marvelous.
We wound that same paper chain around the tree every year of my childhood. Even though we’ve all moved away including my mom, she still keeps it in storage somewhere.
For giving your children a fun Christmas activity that’s very nearly free, and a memory for life, this is one of the best. You can make paste with flour and water, or you can use Elmer’s glue, as you like. A word on fancy paper – it’s your own Christmas destiny, and I mustn’t interfere. But in my humble opinion, nothing says love like a pack of good old multi-color construction paper.
If you’re a bit nervous and in search of instructions, there’s a lovely how-to guide for paper chains, salt dough ornaments, and cranberry and popcorn strings here. Go forth and craft, dear Slow Christmas parents.
Just a note on paper– construction paper is homey and cheap, but it really fades badly. Might be worth paying a little more for durability. Although it is certainly easy for kids to use.
Those little mini-staplers work great for this. We thought they were easier than glue.