Create holiday joy with a Santa beard paper chain countdown craft for kids! Free printable template included for a festive and fun Christmas countdown tradition!
In the month of December, do you wake up every morning to the question, “How many days until Christmas?” My kids can’t wait until Christmas, so they ask me every day how long they have to wait until the big day, sometimes multiple times a day!
I am always looking for fun and inventive ways to countdown to Christmas without spending a fortune on store-bought Advent calendars. The Santa Beard Paper Chain Advent Calendar is a festive, easy-to-make craft that’s perfect for building up the holiday excitement!
Each day, kids can remove a paper link from Santa’s beard as they get closer to Christmas Day. It’s a joyful craft that doubles as a countdown calendar and a holiday decoration for your home!
How to Make the Santa Beard Christmas Countdown Craft
Materials:
- Free printable Santa Beard Paper Chain template (instructions on how to download below)
- Paper
- Scissors
- Glue or tape
- Markers, colored pencils, or crayons (optional)
- Cotton balls (optional)
- Googly eyes or a black marker (optional)
Step-by-Step Instructions:
1. Download and print the free Santa Beard Christmas Countown Craft template. There are a few options:
- You can print the black and white template on white paper and color the pieces with markers, crayons, or colored pencils.
- You can print the colored template on white paper.
- You can print the black and white template on white paper and cut out the different pieces. Then use the cutouts to trace on construction paper.
For all the options, you can choose to print on cardstock for durability. I would recommend printing the paper chain template on regular printer paper so that they are easy to rip off each day.
2. Cut out all the template pieces with scissors.
3. Glue the beard to Santa’s face, covering the bottom quarter of the face.
4. Glue Santa’s hat to the face. The hat should overlap the beard slightly on the righthand side.
5. Add the white brim to the hat. Position the brim so that it overlaps the top of the beard piece slightly and there is no gap between Santa’s hat and the beard.
6. Add Santa’s mouth close to the top center of the beard. You don’t want it too low because the nose will cover it slightly; you also don’t want the mouth to be in the way of the paper chain beard.
7. Glue the mustache pieces on both sides of the mouth. Then, glue the nose piece so that it covers the top of the mustache pieces, part of the beard, and a little bit of the face.
8. Add the eyes to the face. You can either draw them on with a black marker, glue on googly eyes, or cut out the eye template pieces and glue them on.
Add the white circle to the tip of Santa’s hat.
9. Create the paper chain beard: Cut 24 white paper strips from the template for Santa’s beard (or 25 if you want to include Christmas Day).
Position 5 strips along the bottom of Santa’s beard so that they are equally spaced. This is an optional step, but I highly recommend laying out the paper strips before gluing, or else you might find your paper chains too close to each other.
Glue the top of the 5 strips to the back of Santa’s beard.
Loop the first strip into a ring and glue the end to the edge of Santa’s beard.
Repeat with the rest of the strips.
The tricky part is over! Now simply loop the paper strips into rings, secure with glue, and then loop each additional strip through the previous link to form a chain of 24 links—one for each day leading up to Christmas. Make sure the chains hang down freely.
You can choose what shape you would like Santa’s beard to be. We included Christmas Day as part of the countdown, so we had 25 links total, making the beard 5×5 paper chain loops.
Feel free to add some fluff! You can glue cotton balls to the hat brim and a cotton ball to the pom-pom to give the hat a soft, cozy look.
Each day, kids can remove one link, shortening Santa’s beard until he’s ready to deliver gifts!
Display Your Santa Beard Paper Chain Advent Calendar
The Santa Beard Advent Calendar is a thrilling way to countdown to Christmas and an adorable decoration for the holiday season! Kids will love seeing Santa’s beard grow shorter as Christmas approaches, giving them something fun to look forward to each day.
Once completed, hang Santa where everyone can see the countdown in action — on a wall, door, or even the fridge door. It’s a great addition to your holiday decor and a daily reminder of the Christmas cheer on its way!
Download the Santa Beard Paper Chain Craft Template
Click on the image below to get the Santa Beard Christmas Countdown template delivered directly to your inbox!
Happy Countdown Crafting!
The Santa Beard Paper Chain Advent Calendar is a simple, joyful way to bring a bit of festive magic to your home. Gather your kids, break out the craft supplies, and start counting down to Christmas together with this adorable DIY!
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