Paper Three Kings Chain
Fold, cut and color paper into a chain of paper three kings.
Safety Tips
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Young kids (3 to 8 years) should use
child-safe scissors.
Small craft materials such as beads or
sequins are choking hazards. Not appropriate
for use by children below the age of three.
Watch out for this sign
. It means an
adult's help is needed for the particular step.
Paper
Scissors
Glue
Crayons or colored pencils
Pencil
Scotch tape or masking tape
Glitter glue, rhinestones or gem-style
stickers (optional)
Steps
1.
Print out this three kings template on A4 or Letter size paper.
2.
Choose from any of the three templates and cut following the rectangular
frame around the figure.
3.
Align the template along the left edge of your paper. Tape the top and
bottom edges of the template in place.
4.
Using the template's width as a guide, fold your paper accordion-style
(back and forth folding). The template will divide an A4 or Letter size paper
into 6 equal folded sections.
5.
If there's an excess area of paper after your last fold, you may either trim
off or fold that small section of paper.
Photo inset shows the side view of an accordion-style fold.
6.
Cut the folded paper following the outlines of the figure on the template.
7.
Cut out the small center section that defines the figure's arms. You may do
this while keeping the paper folded or if the paper is too thick to cut, you
may unfold the paper and cut out a hole on both sides of each torso.
8.
Gently open up the folded paper to reveal a chain of figures. Since we only
need three figures to make the three kings, cut out any excess paper after
the third figure.
9.
According to legend, the three wise men were believed to have come from
the East. Melchor was the king of Arabia, Gaspar was king of Tarsus
(Turkey) and Balthazar was king of Ethiopia. Draw a face for each king
based on this popular legend or you can sketch them based on your own
imagination. You can also draw different hair styles for each king to give
each of them a distinct look.
10.
Draw the arms and the kings' robes. The three wise men carried with them
gifts, namely, gold, myrrh and frankincense. If you're not familiar with how
these three gifts look like, you can draw gift-wrapped presents like I did.
11.
If you gave each wise man a different hairstyle, trim the edges to define
the new hairstyle.
12.
Color the three wise men.
13.
Make a crown for each king or you may use the three crowns included in
the template. Color each crown. You may add sparkle to the crowns with
glitter glue, rhinestones or gem-style stickers.
14.
If you used glitter glue to decorate the crowns, let it dry before cutting out
the crowns and gluing them onto each king's head.
15.
Additionally you can decorate the wise men's robes with glitter glue or you
can glue on small rhinestones.
16.
Allow the glitter glue to dry before using your paper three kings chain. You
can make them into Christmas decorations by gluing them onto
background paper or taping them onto the wall. If you are making this
project as a class, you can position each one's three kings chain side by
side to make a very long chain or garland.
If you position the two outer figures at an angle, your paper three kings
chain can actually stand!