Hat Making Ideas for Kids

Hat-making arts and crafts projects for children can be a fun and creative party activity for birthdays, a way to celebrate a specific holiday or a rainy-day activity. Hats can be made out of just about anything, including things just lying around the home or garage.

Pipe-cleaner Tiara

Pipe cleaners are inexpensive and come in a number of different colors and can be a fun party activity for girls. Select a few colorful pipe cleaners to use and begin the tiara by forming a crown-like shape, using a human head. Once the base is complete, other pipe cleaners can be twisted and braided around the base to create a creative and unique tiara. Use glitter, beads, paper cut-outs or other materials to decorate the tiara.

Indian Headband

Indian headbands are one of the easiest paper hats that one can make. To create an Indian headband, first cut out a strip of paper and use it to measure the circumference of the head that the hat will go on. Once the headband portion is finished, tape the strip of paper together. The next step is to add a feather that will go on the headband. Many arts and crafts stores sell feathers that can be easily glued to the headband. If no actual feathers are available, make a feather using a piece of paper. Cut the paper into the shape of a feather and then fold the feather vertically. Using scissors, snip around the outside edge of the feather (away from the crease) to create a frayed, feather-like appearance. Once the fraying is complete, glue the feather to the headband. Additional decorations can be applied to the headband to spruce up the appearance.

Classic Party Hat

The classic, cone-shaped birthday party hat is quite easy to make and can be done by drawing a wide triangle on a piece of paper. Next, draw half of an oval on the bottom of the wide triangle. The end of the -half-oval should be drawn so each end meets its corresponding bottom corners of the wide triangle. Next, use scissors to cut away the excess paper. What should be left is a wide triangle with a half oval connected at the bottom. Fold the paper so that the two sides of the triangle meet and tape the two sides together. This basic cone hat can then be decorated with glitter, stickers, paint, colored pencils—just about anything that will stick to paper in some fashion. To finish things off, attach a string on either side of the hat that is long enough to secure the hat with the string under the chin.

References

• Craft Elf: Thanksgiving Place Cards Pilgrim Hat Place Marker Indian Headdress Place Marker
• Creative Kids at Home: Paper Party Hats
• Making Friends: Beaded Tiara