• Construction paper (red and green), cut into strips
• Tape dispensers
• A marker
• Bin for paper recycling
• Optional: Bells or ribbons, one for each paper chain
• Optional: Christmas music, and music player

• Calculate how many strips of paper (links for paper chains) you will need: Count the days, starting with the date of this session and ending on Christmas. Multiply this number by a number slightly bigger than the number of children you expect. That is the number of strips of paper you need to cut.
• Cut construction paper into strips.
• If you plan to play Christmas music, test the music player.
• Optional: Invite older children to join you for this activity. They can help cut paper strips, assist the preschoolers, or make extra paper chains to decorate the meeting space.

Children create a paper chain with one link for each day until Christmas. They will take home their paper chains with the instruction to remove one link each day. Make sure the chains include a link for today; you will remove the "today" link during the Closing.

Invite the children to the activity table. Demonstrate how to make a paper chain: Loop a strip and tape it closed to make a circle. Slip another strip into the circle and close the new strip; this begins the chain. Add as many circles as there are days until Christmas. Optional: Add a bell or a piece of ribbon on the last circle, the one that represents Christmas.

Write children's names on their paper chains and set the paper chains aside, to use in the Closing. Encourage the children to help with clean-up.

A child who needs more activity can be invited to make a paper chain to decorate the room.