Advent Wreath Rip Art Craft

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This week in catechism class, we were learning about the 10 Commandments and we usually have a cute activity to go with it, but it takes a lot of time to do and explain. We had a parent program scheduled that would eat up 30 of our 90 minutes. My mom and I did some last minute rearranging and decided to focus our activity on Advent instead since this was the first week of Advent and something worth teaching about, even if it didn't match our textbook lesson. I loved Maria Manore's stained glass Advent candle project and we contemplated that. I worried that I wouldn't have enough time to prep it and class time to complete it. When I was on her site, I found her rip art Advent candle option. I've always loved using rip art as an art medium with younger students. I shared the idea with my mom/teaching partner but she wanted them to make an entire wreath instead of just one candle. I got my creative wheels turning and decided to make a simple outline of an Advent wreath that our students could fill in with rip art or basic coloring if we ran out of time. And so my printable Advent wreath craft was born!

Printable advent wreath craft is perfect for kids to make to prepare for Christmas.

When we started tossing around the idea of rip art, I went through my construction paper and cardstock collection and pulled out all of my purples, pinks, greens, yellows and oranges. Then my mom had the idea to use patterned scrapbook paper to give the wreaths some dimension and texture. I LOVE LOVE LOVE the end result.

Supplies Needed:

-Wreath outline template (download the template at the bottom of this post)
-Scrapbook/Construction paper/Cardstock in purple, pink, green, yellow, orange, black
-Glue/glue stick/glue sponge

Note about supplies: It is hard to give an estimate of how much paper each child will need because it really depends on what size they rip the pieces and how much they overlap the pieces. We took 12 x 12 scrapbook paper and cut it into 4 pieces so a 6x6 size. We gave each student two pieces of that size paper for pink, purple and green. Most students had plenty left over. For the orange and yellow we cut them into 1 inch squares for them.

Also note that most scrapbook paper is white on the back and inside so when it is ripped, you will see some white as shown in the pictures. If you would like to avoid this, stick with construction paper.

To assemble:

1. We worked on one color at a time. Students added a little bit of glue to the area they were working on (don't put glue on too much of the picture at once or it will dry before you get to that part).

2. Then they ripped small pieces and glued them on randomly and so that they overlapped so that none of the background was showing.

3. We continued this, moving to the next color. We started with purple candles, then pink candle, then flames and then greenery.

4. Once the pictures were completed, we glued them to black construction paper to give it a framed look.

I LOVED how these turned out! Each one looked different based on the paper they used, the size of the paper they ripped, how much they overlapped the paper, etc. Such an easy way to make an Advent wreath that students can take home with them. If you didn't want to rip the paper, you could have students color or paint the wreath, too.

To download your own copy of this Advent Wreath template, just add your name and email address to the form below and the file will be emailed directly to you.