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Paint a Pebble
Find a smooth stone, paint it, leave it somewhere for a stranger.
🏮
Make Celebration Decorations
Paper chains, lanterns and bunting made from what is in the recycling.
A long, calm making session ahead of any celebration, and the house looks different afterwards.
What you need
- coloured paper
- scissors
- glue or tape
- string
How to do it
- Decide together where the decorations will hang before making anything.
- Measure roughly how long a chain needs to be and work out how many links.
- Cut strips and build the chains, taking turns.
- Make two or three paper lanterns by folding and cutting.
- Hang everything together and leave it up for the whole celebration.
Why this is good for them
Working out how many links a chain needs is real estimation with a consequence, and children quickly discover they underestimated. Making the decorations rather than buying them also gives a child a genuine stake in the occasion.
Adapting by age
3 to 4 yearsPre-cut the strips and let them do the looping and sticking.
10 to 12 yearsDesign a repeating colour pattern and calculate how many of each colour.
Keep it safe
Adult supervises scissors. Hang nothing near lamps, heaters or candles.
Cleanup tip
One bag for offcuts, kept for the next project.
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