How to Make Your Own Graduation Hats
Graduation is a big day, even if you are only in the 5th grade. Elementary-school kids get just as excited over graduation as do seniors in high school. Why not help them make their day special and let them have something they can take home, too? It's easy to make a graduation hat, often called a mortarboard, just like the big kids wear.
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Instructions
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Give each student two pieces of construction paper. On one piece, tell the students to measure a line three inches in from each long side of the paper. Have them cut along the lines with their scissors, to make two three-inch strips.
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Have the students take the second piece of construction paper and fold one corner so that the edge meets evenly on the other side, creating a double-layered triangle with a single layer rectangle on top. Have them cut off the rectangle and unfold the paper, leaving a perfect square.
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Take the strips the students made earlier. Staple them together at one end, and wrap the resulting strip around each student's head, to gauge the correct length. Staple the strips together on the other end, leaving just a little wiggle room.
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Have the students cut half-inch notches into one side of the paper strips and fold the resulting tabs down, around the outside of the band.
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Place the band, with the tabs down, on the square the students made earlier. Have the students use their glue sticks to glue the tabs to the square. Set aside to dry. Make sure the students do not put the caps on their heads until the glue is set.
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After glue has dried, poke a small hole in center of the cap with a pencil. Cut yarn in eight-inch lengths and give one to each student. Have the students tie a knot at one end and thread the other end through the hole in the cap, from the inside, pulling gently until the knot catches.
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Make a tassel by tying a knot, an inch or so from the free end of the yarn, and unraveling the end. You can do this easily by placing it on the desk and running the edge of the ruler over it.
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Tips & Warnings
You can secure the yarn knot inside the cap with a little glue. If you can trust your students to measure correctly, you can allow them to staple the strips of paper.
