Twenty-four links, one each night
Start on December 1 and tear off one link each night. Link 1 comes off on Christmas Eve, so the chain is gone on Christmas morning. Starting today instead? Set the first date to today and the chain grows to match.
The activity list is written for small kids and costs little: paper snowflakes, cocoa, a drive to see the lights. Swap it for the joke list, a list of kind deeds, or type your own, one per line. The topper card has a short poem of ours about the chain.
Printing on red and green paper? Pick "Black ink only" and alternate the paper color sheet by sheet.
Questions people ask
When should I start a Christmas paper chain?
December 1 is the usual start, which makes 24 links. Starting right after Thanksgiving makes about 28 to 30. Any start date works: the chain is built from the day you pick.
How many links for a Christmas countdown?
One per day before Christmas. From December 1 that is 24 links, the last torn off on Christmas Eve. Tick "Add a link for the big day itself" if you want a 25th link for Christmas morning.
What can we write on each link?
A small activity, a joke, a kind deed or a Bible reading. All four lists are built in. Your own list works too: paste one idea per line and they are printed in order.
Is there a poem for the chain?
Yes. The topper card on the last sheet has a four-line poem we wrote about tearing off a link each night. You can turn the card off under More options.
Can kids color the links in?
Choose "Color-in" under Ink. The numbers print as outlines that kids can fill with crayons before they glue the chain together.