Making All-Occasion Hats

In this activity from The GIANT Encyclopedia of Kindergarten Activities, children will use their creativity and imagination to create hats for all occasions. Take this activity a step further by adding the finished hats to your dramatic play center for children to use in their pretend play. Using props and engaging in dramatic play helps children develop confidence, communication, language, and social-emotional skills. Hats off to creativity and pretend play!

Materials

• Paper bowls and plates  
• Scissors  
• Glue  
• Hole punch  
• Colorful yarn and ribbons  
• Variety of art materials, such as tissue paper in many colors, feathers, sequins, cotton balls, paint, and so on

What To Do

1. To make a basic hat, remove and discard the middle from the center of a paper plate. Put the outer rim of the paper plate over the paper bowl. This makes a hat brim. Glue it on, if necessary.
2. Punch holes on each side of the paper plate and attach yarn or ribbon.
3. Let the children decorate their hats according to the holiday or occasion. Any number of things can be used to create these hats. For example:

• Winter Hats: Glue cotton balls and paper snowflakes all around the hat.
• Valentine's Day: Glue red, pink, silver, and gold hearts all over the hat. Trim doilies and glue around the edges. This looks like lace.
• St. Patrick's Day: Paint the entire hat with tempera paint or watercolors. Glue shamrocks, leprechauns, and spray-painted gold play coins all over it.
• Cinco de Mayo Hats: Twist red, green, and white ribbons or yarn together to make a hatband. Glue this around the middle of the hat. Add tiny flags of Mexico (found at party supply stores). Find pictures from magazines of Mexican foods and glue them on the hat. On the rim of the hat, glue red, green, and white pompoms.
• 4th of July Hats: Paint hats with red and blue paint. Use white ribbon or yarn for the hatband. Stick tiny American flags in the hatband or attach flag stickers.
• August No-Holiday Month Galaxy Hats: Paint the hats black or dark blue. Glue suns, moons, stars, comets, space ships, and so on to the hat.
• Autumn Hats: Paint hats yellow, brown, or light green. Glue a variety of leaves (real or made from paper) to the hats. Add nuts, acorns, or small shafts of wheat.