Hat Books
Suggested Age: Preschool-Elementary
Submitted by Tisha Aragaki, State Librarian, Hawaii State Library
Books:
Caps for Sale by Esphyr Slobodkina
Mr. Tuggle’s Troubles by LeeAnn Blankenship
I Want My Hat Back by Jon Klassen
This Is Not My Hat by Jon Klassen
This is a fun storytime and activity combination, as the stories are silly and the craft is lively, exciting and ultimately wearable. Caps for Sale and Mr. Tuggle’s Troubles are particularly fun stories to act out with children, as they are full of energy. The underlying messages in Mr. Tuggle’s Troubles and the I Want my Hat Back series by Jon Klassen, are more mature than Caps for Sale and can be better appreciated by children in the elementary age range, but younger children will still be able to appreciate some of the humor and vivid illustrations. The craft itself is noisy and fun, and hats can be decorated anyway you want!
Activity: Big floppy paper hat
Materials:
- Newspaper, full-page spread of the daily newspaper or cut a similarly sized piece of butcher paper or newsprint.
- Masking tape
- Decorations: Ribbons, feathers, and other decorative items
Instructions:
- Center the sheet of paper over your child’s head, and drape the paper down all the way around the head. This part of the process can be loud as the paper is crunching around the child’s ears, so be sure to warn your child that it may be noisy. Also, make sure younger children in particular are comfortable as this step requires the paper covering their eyes. Losing sight of people can be a little alarming for some children, so talk to your child throughout the process.
- Use masking tape to make a band around your child’s head. This creates a hatband that will mold the hat to his or her head. Try to align the front part of the hat band right above the eyebrows. Make sure you don’t make it too tight or too loose or it won’t stay on the head. It usually takes 2 or 3 wraps around the head to create a sufficient hat-band.
- Take the ends of the paper that are draped around the child’s head and crunch and roll them up almost all the way to the hatband, to make the brim of the hat. It is up to you how wide or short you make the brim.
- Once the brim of the hat is completed, take the hat off, and decorate however you like. Ribbons, punched shapes and crepe paper fun to decorate with; but use your imagination and be as creative as you want!
