Tricorner Hat Craft
A tricorner hat, or tricorn for short, was a popular style worn by men in the late 17th and early 18th centuries. These hats can be easily replicated in the classroom to boost the entertainment value of your lesson plans. Use the craft project to help demonstrate important historical events or trends.
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Educational Value
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Historical aspects can be incorporated into this hat craft to boost its educational value and to make your lesson plans more entertaining. For instance, use it to discuss the fashion trends of the late 17th and early 18th centuries, or begin a lesson plan specifically devoted to millinery arts throughout history. Even from a nonfashion perspective, use the hats to profile the kinds of people who sported tricorn hats and give a bit of historical background about the importance of these figures; tricorns were especially popular among sailors and pirates, so use the hats as an opportunity to discuss important historical events surrounding seafaring figures.
Materials
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Tricorn hats can be easily constructed in a short time, making them ideal for incorporation into the class lesson schedule. Similarly, you can craft the hats using materials to suit your budget and convenience. For instance, use paper or newspapers to make a low-budget, low-maintenance tricorn hat. Provide students with basic instructions to fold their hat designs, and then allow time for each child to personalize the craft with decorative embellishments. Use black or brown felt to make a more realistic-looking tricorn design; this is still a fairly inexpensive and easy-to-construct option.
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Construction
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Tricorn hats are simple to construct. For a paper tricorn, fold down a piece of paper the size of a full-format newspaper page in half, and then fold the top corners down to meet each other in the middle, forming a triangle. Fold up the bottom edges, open the hat and you're ready to decorate. For a fabric design, cut a strip of felt to encompass the students' heads comfortably and roll it into a circular band. Glue a lid to the top portion of the band, and glue the bottom of the band to a circular brim. Fold up three of the sides of the brim and glue them to the sides of the hatband, forming a triangular shape when viewed from above.
Activities
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Have the students sport their tricorn hats in class while you continue with your lesson plan for the remainder of the day, or plan some entertaining activities surrounding the hats. For instance, have the students perform some skits based on the kinds of characters who would have traditionally worn tricorn hats in important historical events.
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References
- Photo Credit Jupiterimages/liquidlibrary/Getty Images
