Hat Crafts and Learning
Activities for Kids
Hat Theme Crafts and Activities
Hats aren't just for looks. Your children will learn from the following crafts and activities the
history and importance of different kinds of hats.
Paper Engineer's Hat Craft for Kids
Have you ever wondered why people in different professions wear different types of hats? In the story "Stormy's Hat, Just Right for a Railroad Man" by Eric A. Kimmel you will learn why an engineer's hat looks the way it does, and the history of how it came to be. |
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After reading this story have your children make their own engineer hats from paper.
What you will need: Card stock (Heavy paper), scissors, glue, and/or stapler.
What to do: 1. Print out the Top of Hat Pattern, and Bill Pattern, cut them out, and have your children color them.
If you would like patterns on which your children can draw their own stripes use these: Top of Hat and Bill Pattern. (Problems Printing?)
2. Cut slits along the top of the bill on the dark lines. Staple or glue the bill and the top of the hat together at the middle matching up the two tiny dark black lines. Then glue of staples the rest together working out from the middle.
3. To finish staple the band to the back of the hat to fit your child's head.
4. You can print the hat patterns smaller to make matching hats for stuffed animals and dolls.
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For direction on how to make this train out of boxes and an oatmeal box, go to the Planes, Trains, and Automobile Crafts and Learning Activities Page. |
Free Foam Fireman's Hat Craft for Kid
What you will need:
9" x 12" Red Craft Foam (One piece for each hat)
Colored Pencils or Crayons to color the badge that is attached to the front of the hat
Glue
Scissors
Printer Paper
Pen for tracing the pattern
How to Make the Craft Foam Fireman's Hat:
1. Print out the patterns. (Pattern 1 and Pattern 2) (Printing Problems?)
 2. Cut out the patterns and tape them together matching up the straight line at the edge of each pattern to make one large pattern.
3. Place the pattern on a piece of craft foam, trace around the pattern, and then cut it out. Cut out the center moon shape. You can make this hat smaller for younger children. Follow the printing problem link above for directions on how to do this.
4. Draw a badge shape on a piece of paper color it and cut it out. Glue it to the front of the hat. (A pattern page with three badges is available to members.)
This pattern is also available in two smaller sizes so you can make a matching hat for your stuffed animals or dolls. (Available to Members.)
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Paper Police Hat Craft Foam Craft for Kids
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This hat is very easy to make. All you need is a piece of construction paper, scissors and tape. Make the band shorter and longer to fit different head sizes.
Children's will have hours of fun pretending to be policemen and police women.
The pattern for this craft is available to members only. |
"Boss of the Plains" Stetson Hat
During his stay in Colorada John Stetson made himself a
"big and picturesque"
hat that would protect himself from the scorching sun and wind. One day a horseman offered him five dollars for his hat and John took it off his head and gave it to him.
Since mining for gold didn't prove profitable, John decided to move back East and make hats again. He knew that he had to make something different from all the other hat makers and that is when he decided to make hats like the one he had made for himself. It soon became the most popular hat in the West.
Read the book "Boss of the Plains, The Hat that Won the West" by Laurie Carson. Then have your children write facts about John Stetson and the "Boss of the Plains" on the hats. You can also use a blank hat shape and have your children write more facts, vocabulary words, or a short summary of the book. Staple a hat that has the title of the book on top of their page to make a book. |
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Hat pattern with Title and Hat Pattern with No Words (Printing Problems?)
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How to Print or Copy these Instructions
"Do You Have a Hat?" Learning Activity
Lots of famous people wore distinctive hats. Francisco de Goya wore a hat with candles on the brim, Stravinsky wore an old green beret, Carmen Miranda wore a hat topped with fruit, and everyone knows what Abe Lincoln's hat looked like. This is a great book to encourage children to think about how hats can fit a person's personality and even become something that helps identify him or her.
Activities:
Hat Day - Read "Do You Have a Hat?" by Eileen Spinelli and then have your children bring in their favorite hats and share with the class why their hats are special to them.
Writing and Drawing Activity - Ask your students, "If you could have any hat in the world, what would it look like? What would you use it for? Have them write about their hat or draw a picture of what it would look like and label it, and then have them share their ideas with the class.
My Hat Activity - Make paper hats from newspaper or newsprint paper and have your children decorate theirs hats to fit their personalitieis. See directions below. |
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How to Make a Newspaper Hat
1. Fold a full sheet of newspaper longways.
2. Than fold the newspaper down lengthwise.
3. Place the folded newspaper on a table so that the edge you just folded is at the top.
4. Fold the two top corners down so that they meet at the center.
5. Fold the bottom edge up so that it meets the bottom of the folded corners.
6. Fold the bottom up again at the bottom of the folded corners.
"The Printer" and How to Make a Newspaper Printer's Hat
Read "The Printer" by Myron Uhlberg a touching story about a deaf man who worked at as a printer for a newspaper. He would bring home the paper every day, read it, and then make his son a paper hat by folding up a page of the newspaper. His son wouldn't take it off until it was time to go to bed. One day the deaf man noticed a fire in the shop and alerted everyone of the danger using sign language. He made sure everyone got out okay and was the last one to leave the building. When the shop was rebuilt and the first newspapers run, the men at the shop who hadn't acknowledged him before all said, "Thank you," in sign language and presented him with a newspaper hat made from the freshly printed newspaper.
Make a Printer's Newspaper Hat like the one in the story
Printers wore four-cornered hats made from newspapers to protect their hair from the fine particules of ink that the high-speed presses sprayed into the air.
There is a diagram at the end of the book that shows how to make a printer's hat from a sheet of newspaper. You can also find directions on YouTube.
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How to Make a Printer's Hat Out of Newspaper
Songs About Hats
1. "My Hat, It Has Three Corners"- Sing the song once with all the words and each time after that leave out another word.
"My hat, it has tree corners,
Three coners has my hat
And had it not three corners,
It would not be my hat.
2. Yankee Doodle Dandy - Go to Kiddles for the lyrics and music.
Hat Theme on Other Web Sites
SurLaLune Storytime - SurLaLune has lots of book suggestions about hats for children, and several songs.
How to Make Paper Hats Links
1. How to make a paper sombrero on YouTube
2. Paper Hat School Workshop and Parade.
3. How to make a paper hat from newspaper and masking tape.
4. Pancake Hat by Sarah Pirtle
Hat Crafts
Good Books About Hats
 
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| The Magic Hat
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Rembrandt's Hat
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The Scarecrow's Hat
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| A magic hat turns people into giant playful animals. |
Bear loses his hat and is persuaded to find a new one. Bear listens to his friends advice and buys a hat he doesn't really like. In the end he learns that he should have listened to his heart, gives away his new hat, and buys one he likes. |
A chicken admires the scarecrow's hat who would gladly trade it for a walking stick. Chicken doesn't have a walking stick, but knows someone who does. She works out many trades with other animals until she is able to gets what she wants. |
 
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| The Old Blue Hat
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One Winter's Day
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The Hat
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| A young boy doesn't have anyone to play with or anything to do until he finds an old blue hat. The hat inspires his imagination and leads him to meet animals and ultimately a new friend. |
Even though hedgehog just lost his home he stops to help the other animals who are suffering in the storm. He is rewarded for his kindness when they get together and build him a new home. |
A hedgehog gets a stocking stuck on his head and all the farm animals laugh at him. |
 
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| Old Hat New Hat
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Miss Fannie's Hat (Picture Puffins)
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| Bear thinks he needs a new hat. He tries on many hats but none of them will do. At the end he decides his old hat is just right. |
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Miss Fannie has lots of hats and they are all her favorites. Each one brings back memories. When she is asked to donate one for a chruch auction she has a hard time deciding which one to give up. In the end she is happy with her decision because she knows she is doing the right thing. |
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2. Fold the paper in half and then turn it so that the fold is at the top.
