A paper plate Christmas wreath gives your preschooler a proper decoration to hang up, while giving you somewhere to put the mountain of green paper pieces. Everyone wins until the child decides the bow belongs on the back. Fortunately, a paper wreath is not bound by interior-design regulations.

This version uses a cut-out plate ring, overlapping folded paper leaves and a lightweight paper bow. The adult cuts the centre and prepares the first leaves. Your child chooses the greens, presses pieces down and adds the finishing decorations.

The folds and overlaps are what make this feel more like a little wreath than a flat green circle. You only glue the base of each leaf, leaving the tip raised. There is no need for real holly, wire, tiny bells or a hot glue gun.

Prepare a ring that can hold the leaves

Choose a plain paper plate about 23 cm across. Draw an inner circle about 15 cm across, leaving a ring roughly 4 cm wide. An adult makes the starter cut and removes the centre. Smooth off sharp paper corners; preschoolers do not need to do the awkward cutting inside a circle.

If your plate is thin and floppy, tape or glue two matching rings together and let them dry flat. A deep, glossy party plate can be awkward for glue to grip. A plain uncoated plate with a shallow rim is easier to decorate.

For a first wreath, prepare about 24 green paper leaves, each around 6 × 3 cm. Fold a green rectangle lengthwise, draw half a broad oval against the fold, and cut it out. Open the leaf and leave the centre crease slightly raised. Keep the ends blunt rather than making tiny holly spikes.

That preparation is similar in spirit to cutting the broad mane pieces for our paper plate lion: large shapes are easier to position than piles of fiddly scraps. The wreath uses a hollow ring and layered leaves, so the finished pieces do different jobs.

Layer your paper plate Christmas wreath

1. Make a hanging point before decorating. An adult punches a hole through the ring near its outer top edge. Leave enough paper around it that it will not tear immediately. Keep that spot clear of glue and remember where it is; a pencil arrow on the back helps.
2. Plan one small section. Lay three leaves along the ring without glue, pointing roughly in the same direction. Overlap each new leaf’s base with the previous leaf’s end. Your child can choose the colour order while you check that the centre opening stays open.
3. Glue the bases, not the tips. Put a small dab of craft glue on the lower 1–2 cm of a leaf and press that area onto the plate. Keep the raised middle and tip free. Repeat around the ring, moving the plate rather than reaching across wet leaves.
4. Fill visible gaps. When the first circuit is done, look for exposed white plate between the leaves. Add a second row toward the inner or outer edge where needed. Leaves can point slightly outward, but do not hang so far over the opening that they turn the wreath into a solid disc.
5. Add flat paper decorations. Glue three or four clusters of red paper berries onto leaf bases. Use circles around 2 cm across. Paper ornaments or yellow bell silhouettes can go in the same places; choose a few accents rather than weighing down every tip.
6. Make and attach the bow. Cut a simple red bow silhouette about 10 cm wide, with a broad centre and two tails. Glue its centre to the bottom of the ring, over the leaf bases. Keep the tails short enough that they do not catch whenever someone picks up the wreath. For the looped bow shown, an adult bends both ends of a 15 × 4 cm red strip into the centre and tapes them. Wrap a 2 × 6 cm strip around that join, then tape two 4 × 6 cm paper tails behind it. Your child glues the centre to the ring.
7. Dry it flat, then hang it. Leave the wreath on a clear surface until the glued pieces stop moving. Thread a short ribbon through the prepared hole and tie a compact loop. An adult hangs it beyond small children’s reach, or displays it on a shelf if hanging is not practical.

How much help does an age-three child need?

Prepare the ring and leaves, then offer six leaves at a time. Your child can apply glue with a short brush or press the bases where you have placed small dots. A full tray of two dozen leaves can be rather distracting when they were already planning to glue one to the chair.

Show one overlap and let the rest vary. Leaves pointing in different directions still look cheerful. The useful adult check is whether the plate ring remains visible enough to hold things together, not whether your child has followed a clockwise design scheme.

For a glue-free paper session, the contact-paper suncatcher lets tissue pieces stick directly to a backing. That is a different project for a different mood; sticky film is not a good substitute for the raised leaves in this wreath.

Once your child likes folding paper leaves, the standing Christmas tree craft introduces a slot joint using some of the same greens. Keep those tree cutouts flat and sturdy; they should not be folded like these wreath leaves.

Troubleshooting a droopy wreath

Three versions for different craft moods

Display it without squashing the leaves

Lift the finished wreath by its plate backing with two hands. Put it in a shallow box if you need to transport it, leaving space above the raised leaves. A plastic bag tends to flatten the tips and catch on the bow.

Keep the decoration indoors and dry. If you want a project that deliberately starts with paper scraps becoming wet pulp, making recycled paper with kids uses that mess on purpose. This wreath relies on its paper keeping its shape.

Paper plate wreath questions