This holiday activity encourages family units of all types to spend meaningful time together without technology. The goal is to create intentional spaces for connection, conversation, and fun, focusing on simple activities that inspire laughter, creativity, and bonding.

Participants create a paper chain made from slips of paper, each representing a shared memory, a meaningful story, or a wish for the future. The paper chain serves as both an engaging, screen-free activity and a keepsake that reflects the group's journey together.

What You’ll Need:

• Colored paper (or festive wrapping paper scraps) cut into strips
• Markers or pens
• Glue, tape, or staples
• A festive container or basket to collect the strips before assembling the chain

Instructions:

•  Set the Scene: Create a cozy, welcoming environment (holiday music, hot cocoa, and snacks optional!).
• Everyone sits together at a table or in a circle, ready to write their memories and thoughts.

Prompt Writing:

• Hand each participant a few strips of paper.
• Ask them to write down a memory, story, hope, or inside joke they want to share with the group.

For example:

• “Remember when we got lost on the way to Grandma’s house?”
• “I hope we all travel to the beach together next summer.”
• “I loved the time we built snowmen until it got dark.”
  

(If you have very small children, you can write their prompts for them and allow them to decorate the strips.)

Share as You Build:

Take turns reading the strips aloud and sharing the stories or wishes written on them.As each person shares, they add their strip to the chain, linking it with the previous ones.

Display the Chain:

Once all the strips are connected, hang the chain as a festive decoration—draping it around the tree, along the mantel, or across the room.