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
After reading this story have your children make their own engineer hats from paper.
What you will need:
Card stock (Heavy paper)
Scissors
Glue
Stapler
What to do:
1. Print out the hat patterns, cut them out, and have your children color them. You can also use the patterns with no stripes and have your children draw them on the hat pattern.
Member's 
Instand Digital Download - 
- Includes patterns with stripes and patterns with no stripes.
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 or staple 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.
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.
© 2012, Digital by Design, Inc. - See Copyright Information
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.
Member's
Instant Download -
Patterns Includes three badges and a pattern in two smaller sizes so you can make a matching hat for your stuffed animals or dolls.
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.
© 2012, Digital by Design, Inc. - See Copyright Information
Paper Police Hat Craft
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.
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"Boss of the Plains" Stetson Hat
During his stay in Colorada John Stetson made himself a "big and picturesque" hat that would protect him from the scorching sun and wind. One day a horseman offered him $5.00 for his hat. John took it off his head and gave it to him.
Since mining for gold didn't prove profitable, John moved back East to 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
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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 the hat that has the title of the book on top of the children's pages to make a class book.
© 2012, Digital by Design, Inc. - See Copyright Information
"Do You Have a Hat?" Learning Activity
Many 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?
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 personalities. See Directions below.
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
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 particles 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.
How to Make a Printer's Hat Out of Newspaper
1. Unfold a large sheet of newspaper and flatten it out.
2. Fold the paper in half and then turn it so that the fold is at the top.
3. Fold the top two corners down so that they meet in the middle of the paper to make two triangles. You will need at least three inches at the bottom of the paper that is not covered by the folded corners. If you do not, you will have make the paper shorter at the ends. Unfold the paper and cut inches off the top or bottom of the paper and fold it again.
4. Fold up the bottom edge of top paper so that it meets the bottom edge of the triangles.
5. Fold it up the bottom again at the bottom of the triangles to make the hat band.
6. Turn the hat over.
7. Fold the bottom two corners in so that they meet in the middle.
8. Fold the bottom two corners up so that the meet at the folded paper above.
9. Fold up the bottom flap and tuck in in the band.
10. Fold down the top corner and tuck it into the band.
11. Open up the hat and fold it into a diamond shape.
12. Fold down the top corner and tuck it in the band.
13. Fold up the bottom corner and fold it in the brim and then open the hat creasing the corners.
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 corners 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.
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 on Other Pages
