Vacation Countdown

We're headed to Florida for another family vacation very soon! Soooo to help build the anticipation (as if we need that!) I thought it would be fun to put together a paper chain and cut one link off each day and write the remaining number of days on the chalkboard. 
This was a great activity to work on with Luke. He has been taking fewer and fewer naps lately so one afternoon last week I let him get up with the promise of not whining and letting me continue to clean and whatnot until I could sit down with him and work on something. Thankfully, he cooperated. 
All I had to do for this project was crease the paper (and make sure he didn't' staple his fingers). Luke cut, folded and stapled each link himself. He did great. 
Each morning (the boys alternate days) we cut a link from the chain and countdown how many are left and change the day on the chalkboard! They look forward to it each time. In addition to building excitement about our upcoming trip, we're building cutting and counting skills. Bonus!