Making and crafts
Make a paper chain garland
A long garland of looped paper strips, made one link at a time and hung up to brighten a room.
Who might enjoy it: People who enjoy festive decorations, parties or brightening a room, and anyone who likes simple repeated steps. Good for a group that wants something to hang up together.
- Setup
- About 10 minutes
- Activity
- 10–40 minutes
- Cost
- Low cost
- Mess
- Little mess
- Where
- At a table, seated-friendly
- Help
- Someone nearby
Materials: 5 everyday things, listed below
What you need
- Colored paper, wrapping paper or old magazine pages
- Scissors for the helper, or a paper trimmer
- A glue stick or a stapler for the helper
- A ruler and pencil
- Removable tape or hooks for hanging
No need to buy anything special
- No colored paper? Use gift wrap, sheet music copies, old maps or newspaper.
- No glue or stapler? Clear tape holds each loop just as well.
What to do
- Cut paper into strips about one inch wide and eight inches long before you begin.
- Lay the strips out and ask which colors or patterns to use.
- Bend one strip into a loop and glue or tape the ends together.
- Thread the next strip through the first loop.
- Close the second loop, so the two links are joined.
- Keep adding links, taking turns or with one person threading and the other closing.
- Hold the chain up together now and then to see how long it has grown.
- Decide together where to hang it, such as a window, a doorway or across a mantel.
It is okay to stop or change it
It is fine to stop after a few links. A short chain still looks cheerful on a doorknob, and you can add to it any time; it never needs to be finished.
Make it easier or different
- Make it easier
- The helper threads each strip through, and the participant presses the ends together to close the loop.
- For a group
- Each person makes a short chain in their own colors, then everyone joins the chains into one long garland.
- With children
- Write a name, a word or a favorite thing on each strip before making the loop.
- For low vision
- Use wider strips in two strongly contrasting colors and alternate them to make the pattern easy to follow.
- Seated
- Work on a lap tray and let the finished chain fall into a box at your feet as it grows.
Safety
- Keep scissors, staplers and paper trimmers with the helper.
- Hang the finished garland well away from candles, heaters and lamps.
- Hang it high enough that it will not catch on walkers, wheelchairs or feet, and use a steady step stool, not a chair.
These are practical suggestions, not medical advice. You know the person best.
A paper chain is the same simple loop repeated, so it is easy to learn, easy to share and easy to pick up again later. It can be made for any season or celebration, or just to add color to a room.