cut and fold squares

Everyone can add to this beautiful decorative chain! This post is a part of our special week series of Christmas/Winter crafts that you can use in the classroom. Stay tuned for more posts upcoming this week and the next!

Age: 5+

Duration: 15 minutes

You’ll Need:

• 15351 Cut & Fold Circles

• Scissors

• Glue

This craft is very similar to yesterday’s craft: you’ll need to fold the paper and make several cuts with scissors. The final step requires you to glue all the pieces together to make a decorative paper chain.

The Cut & Fold Circles pack comes in a variety of colors. Alternate colors or use all the colors of the rainbow!

Fold a Cut & Fold Circle in half 3 times.

You should be left with a pie-slice shape. Cut three lines from the fold line. Cut up to just below the edge on the other side of the pie-slice.

Repeat the same from the opposite fold line. Cut these three lines in between the first three lines, so you make a zig-zag lightning shape with the lines. Remember not to cut all the way through the pie-slice!

Unfold the pie-slice back into a circle. This is what your line cuts should look like.

To glue the circles together, first lay a circle with the colorful side facing down. Carefully dab the glue onto 4 points of the circle. Next, place a second circle, with the colorful side facing up on top of the first circle. Align the edges together so that the cuts exactly overlap each other. Put a bit of glue in the center of the colored circle and press the next circle (color side facing down) onto the previous circle.

Repeat these steps with all of the remaining circles.

Wait for the glue to dry!

Grab both ends of the paper chain and gently spread apart.

Now you can hang up the paper chain wherever you like! Time to decorate your classroom for the winter holidays.

Send us photos of your paper chains to subscriber@roylco.ca! We’d love to see your classroom decorations!

Special Feature this week:

We’ll be updating every day of this week and next week with fantastic holiday crafts you can use in your classroom!

Please note:

LittleFingersBigArt won’t be posting anything between December 18th, 2013 and January 6th, 2014! Have a wonderful winter vacation!

A whimsical star design hung in your classroom is sure to turn heads! Use our R15350 Cut & Fold Squares for brilliant color.

Age: 6+

Duration: 20-30 minutes

You’ll Need:

• R15350 Cut & Fold Squares

• Tape

• Scissors

• Hole punch

The great thing about this craft is that it looks complicated, but is actually super-easy to make! All you require is square-cut paper, a simple folding technique and a few snips with scissors. I’ll walk you through the process step-by-step, but I’ve also made a few detailed animations to help you through each step.

Choose your selection of colors. A rainbow-colored star will stand out just as nicely as a red and green arrangement!

The Christmas Star is divided into several parts. Each part can be made simply with one Cut & Fold Square and a few cuts with scissors. First fold your square into a triangle.

From the fold line, close to the edge of the triangle, cut 1 long line towards the point of the triangle. Do not cut all the way across the triangle, but stop about 1/2″ below the edge. Make another cut just beside the first. Stop the cut about 1/2″ below the first cut. Make a third cut beside the second cut. Stop the cut about 1/2″ below the second cut. Mirror the same cuts on the other side of the triangle.

Unfold the triangle back into a square. Turn the square so that it makes a diamond shape. You’ll notice that the cuts make little triangle strips on either side of the diamond shape. Start with the uncolored side facing up. Join the corners of the center together. Use tape to secure.

Next, flip the shape over and join the next two corners together with tape. Flip the shape over again to the uncolored side and join the next two corners. Continue flipping the shape over and joining the next set of corners until you get something like a spiral, which you can see in the last image in the animation.

In order to make a Christmas Twist Star, you will need 6 of the colorful spirals. Alternate the colors of the spirals (such as red, green, red, green, etc) or make one of each color available in the Cut & Fold Squares pack.

To join the spirals, glue the sides together. You should have all 6 spirals glued side by side in a row. Wait for the glue to dry before bending the whole line of spirals into a circle. Glue the sides of the last two spirals together. The spirals will all angle out from the center to look like a large star!

Punch a hole through the top of one of the spiral points.

Tie a length of string from the hole to hang the star!

Show us your beautiful Christmas Twist Stars! Send us photos of your students’ work to subscriber@roylco.ca. Wishing you a wonderful winter vacation!

Special Feature this week:

We’ll be updating every day of this week and next week with fantastic holiday crafts you can use in your classroom!

Please note:

LittleFingersBigArt won’t be posting anything between December 18th, 2013 and January 6th, 2014! Have a wonderful winter vacation!

Tag: cut and fold squares

Christmas Paper Chains

Christmas Twist Stars