Paper Love That Comes In A Heart Shape!
Whenever there was something special going on during a particular month, my 1st graders used to ask everyday: “When is our Halloween party?”, “When’s the fieldtrip?” “How long before we can open our Valentines?” etc.
Sound familiar? I decided to put up a seasonally- colored paper chain, for however many days in that month.
I’d link them in a pattern so that I’d have a quick teachable moment in full view.
Whatever we were doing that was extra special: parties, trips, visitors, I’d put an appropriate sticker on that link, so when a student asked a question like the above, I could say, “Well let’s figure that out,” and I’d refer them to the paper chain.
If you like this idea you can get the pattern for a cute dangler, that you can change each month.
The apple piece is for September; there's a pumpkin for October etc. I stick them on with Velcro dots. Hang the paper chains from that.
Heart Paper Chain:
I wanted to make a special paper chain for February, so I made the links in a shape.
This is easy to do. Simply cut strips of colored paper on the paper cutter that are 1 inch wide, and as long as the paper.
Construction paper works fine, but cardstock paper holds the heart shape better, and is much more durable.
Fold a strip in half. Bend the open ends in ‘til you have a rounded top heart, and staple them together. (See photo.)
As you can see, I made my strips white, red and pink and will have an ABC-ABC pattern going.
Fold as many strips as you need, but don’t staple them until you have looped them through each other to make the chain.
You can make this even more interesting, by writing a “secret message” on the paper strips before you put them together.
Dream up your own, or use some from my list.
I did the paper chain activity during my calendar time, or before story time, as I hung the chain by my rocking chair.
After students have counted, recognized the colors and pattern, and you’ve done whatever else math-wise, you want to do with the paper chain, call on a quiet child to gently tear the end strip off and read the secret message.
For more things you can do with this easy-to-make Valentine heart, scroll down to the next article, and to get the link to make them.
