I love paper chains, especially this one – the children of the world paper chain. Cutting, coloring and decorating this paper chain will expose children to the unique qualities and diversity of children from different nations. Right off the bat I need to let you know that I will be guilty of putting too many pictures in this post. I can’t help it. They’re all so unique, diverse, and well….. really cute!
See what I mean?
So let’s begin.
First thing you will need is the paper chain template. It looks like this.
Download it here.
I suggest printing this on card stock. It makes your “children” hold their shape better and is much easier to work with. Notice that the template has both boys and girls, as well as girls in short and long dresses. I suggest giving one chain (not page) to each of your children/students. These take longer than you think to make, so don’t get overwhelmed by trying to do too many.
Next, gather some supplies. You will need:
fabric or tissue paper scraps,
markers (fine point work best, especially for the faces),
watercolor paints and brushes,
glue sticks, a glue gun, yarn, scissors, buttons and any other items you are inspired to use.
We found the glue sticks worked best for paper and the glue gun worked best on yarn and fabric.
You will also need to google “children of the world” on the internet and then click “images” to get inspiration photos. Here is a sampling of our photos.
This is really a key step as it “informed” our efforts in this project.
I suggest making a game of the decorating. Have your children pick out the countries they want to represent and then go to work. When they are finished, you can take turns showing your paper chain and guessing where each of the children are from based on the way they are decorated.
The fruit of our labor……….
Ok, want to guess where our children are from?
How about this one?
Right, our girl from China in traditional Chinese dress.
And this one?
Our lovely girl from India.
This one?
Thailand (or you know, somewhere in Southeast Asia)
These two guys?
My awesome Africans!
One of my favorites…
The little Eskimo guy!
Mia got a little stuck on American people:
An American school girl….
and an American farm girl!
And keeping with the American theme and my absolute personal favorite…..
The American cowboy!!! I think he’s so awesome!
Which one is your favorite?
Some questions to ask your kids to promote discussion:
How are these children different from us?
How are they similar?
What particular characteristics make them unique to the country from which they come?
Why do they wear the clothes they wear? Do they have any cultural or climate circumstances that require them to wear these clothes.
Do they have any religious beliefs that dictate how they dress or look?
Let these questions fuel a little fun family/class discussion. If you don’t know all of the answers, enjoy researching them together!
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A note about the tissue paper we used….
The tissue paper came in an Eric Carle collage book that I bought years ago. I looked to see if it is still available for purchase. I only found used copies of it on Amazon. Here is a link if you are interested. The alternative is to buy printed tissue paper in various patterns that you think might work. If you are feeling very industrious, you can paint your own paper – Eric Carle style!
