My kids LOVE counting down to big events, holidays, birthdays, special outings.
Paper chains are *hands down* their favorite way to countdown.
After years of cutting paper strip after paper strip only to toss them in the recycling bin, I decided we needed a reusable option for our counting down needs. My first thought was fabric. I envisioned gorgeous fabric circles, linked together with sweet buttons – and while this is totally possible – it’s also way more work than this busy mumma needed to take on. Plus, part of the appeal of the paper-chain is that the girls could make them with little assistance; so I wanted our reusable version to be a kid friendly craft.
Here’s what I came up with:
Cute, right?
This sweet chain is helping us countdown the days ‘til our beach vacation but the girls have already decided after the trip, we will use it to countdown to Summer vacation, and then to countdown to my birthday!
To make a reusable countdown chain with your kids, all you need is craft foam (I purchased large sheets from Hobby Lobby in “beachy” colors for just .89 cents per sheet) and stick on velcro dots (also from Hob Lob)
We constructed our chain the same way we would make a paper chain.
First we cut a strip of foam 1 1/2 inches x 9 inches
Then we added a velcro dot to each end to form a circle.
Then simply repeat with alternating colors until we had a complete chain.
*You can make approximately 12 strips from one sheet of foam.
The girls had fun making it and are enjoying removing a link each day. 
Ooh, I have a quick tip I want to share with you! When making a long countdown chain (like this one) it’s easy for the kids to forget to remove a link one day or to accidently remove two links on one day and then the whole countdown is off. My solution: on the back of every 10 links, I write a small note that states which date that link should be removed, like this:
That way, with one quick peek, you can make sure your chain is still on track.
Happy Crafting!
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