This colorful paper chain Christmas tree craft adds a bit of magic to the crafting process. Your kids will be super impressed when your little Xmas tree shape opens up into four trees, all joined together and ready for decoration.
Kids of any age will love the decoration part, even if they are too young to get the cutting right.
Full instructions and a video demo are below so you can make your own Xmas tree decorations at home.
Paperchain Materials
We have gone for green paper as it is the best for an instant tree. But you can go with any color you like, or just plain white if you wish to decorate completely from scratch.
As for the decorations, again you can use whatever you like here.
We have kept it simple by just sticking on pom-poms at random intervals. But you can be as creative as you like here and tailor it to whatever your children enjoy most.
Paper Chain Christmas Tree Video Demo
There is some tricky cutting in this project so make sure you watch the video below before you get started on the written instructions.
Marking out the tree shape to allow for a healthy link in the chain is key so look out of this section of the demo and watch carefully.
How to Make a Paper Chain Christmas Tree Craft
Turn some basic craft sticks into a cool little Christmas tree decoration that you can decorate with pom-poms, buttons, or just draw some features on. Great for young kids this project requires only basic glue work and some cutting.
Materials
Instructions
Stage 1: Cut out the Paperchain Xmas Tree Shapes
- Step 1 - Take a green piece of colored paper and fold into thirds, creasing each fold.
- Step 2 - Cut along the crease to create a narrower strip of paper.
- Step 3 - Fold the strip of paper into fourths, creasing each fold.
- Step 4 - Use a ruler and a pencil to mark out an outline for an Xmas tree shape for us to cut out later on. Make sure the top of the triangle is in the middle of the face of the paper facing up (1/4 of the folded paper), and draw a line to two marks at the base of your tree branches that are a equal distance from the bottom of the paper so you have an evenly shaped triangle.
- Step 5 - Mark out a trunk in the middle of the base of the paper.
- Step 6 - Along the long edge of the triangle (tree branches) add a jagged line to create that tiered branch shape. Make sure the edge of the branches are thick right up to the edge of the paper as this is where the paper will join to the layers underneath.
- Step 7 - Cutout the Christmas Tree shape along the marked lines.
- Step 8 - Unfold to reveal the paperchain of Xmas trees.
Stage 2: Decorate Your Paperchain Christmas Tree
- Step 9 - You can decorate your trees however you like but in the demonstration we have used decorative pom poms.
- Step 10 - Once complete your xmas tree craft is ready for decoration!
Why Make a Paperchain Xmas Tree
While the cutting might be harder for younger kids to do the decoration part will be lots of fun for any age group.
While we have used pom-poms you can substitute for buttons, or just color and draw patterns on the paper itself.
You could even just use plain white paper if you wanted drawing to be the focal point of the activity.
For More Xmas Crafts
Check out our full list of Christmas crafts for young kids here.
You will find plenty of projects with video and written instructions. Including crafts like:
Final Word
After you cut one of these you will be able to repeat the steps easily. So you can create multiple chains to be decorated to keep your kids happy and engaged for hours.
They are a lightweight decoration (unless you stick anything heavier to it) and can be hung around any room of the house to add some more Xmas cheer.
