With the beginning of the school year fast approaching, there are lots of things for your children to look forward to. A fun—and totally budget—way to mark the days until the first day of school, the first day of fall, Halloween, and other fun days is to make a Paper Chain Countdown.

What you’ll need:

~ Construction paper (variety of colors)
~ Markers or crayons
~ Glue or glue sticks
~ Scissors

How to do it:

1. Take one piece of construction paper to be used as a sign. Write down what you’re counting down to (i.e. 1st Day of School), and let your child use the markers or crayons to decorate the sign.

2. Take several pieces of construction paper and cut them long ways into one inch strips. You’ll need as many strips as you have days to count until the event.

3. Decorate each strip or write the countdown date on it.

4. Take the first strip and form a band, gluing one end to the other to complete the circle. Put the next strip of paper through the middle of the first chain link, and glue the ends together. Continue with each strip of paper, adding links to your paper chain until you’ve used them all.

5. Glue the last link of the paper chain to the sign, and hang it somewhere your child can easily reach it.

6. Begin your countdown. Pull off one link of the chain each day. The special day has arrived, of course, when you pull off the last link!

The best part? This project can be done over and over again with different variations throughout the year—you may want to use different colored paper for different holidays, or write different things on each strip depending on what you’re counting down to.