HATS

Decorating Hats

Make hats for the children by cutting the centers out of paper plates and stapling paper soup bowls over the holes. Attach yarn to the sides of the hats for ties. Then let the children decorate their hats with materials such as feathers, sequins, fabric scraps, ribbon, artificial flowers, glitter, and yarn.

Variation: Instead of paper plate hats, make cone-shaped hats from construction paper or folded paper hats from newsprint.

Hat Collages

Let the children find pictures of hats in old magazines. Then let them cut or tear out the pictures and glue them to precut hat shapes. Display their hat collages around the room.

When March Hats Blow

Cut nine different hat shapes out of felt, one each from blue, yellow, red, brown, green, black, orange, white, and purple. Place the hat shapes on the left side of a flannelboard. As you recite the poem, "fly" the appropriate colored hats across the flannelboard to the right side. Then repeat the poem and let the children help decide the order of the colors.

When I hear the March winds blow,

I look up in the sky.

Instead of things like birds or planes,

I watch the hats fly by.

Each one different from the last,

Every color do I see.

Some are big and some are small,

As they fly by me.

Here comes a blue hat flying by,

Now a yellow hat in the sky.

Next a red hat is on its way,

Then a brown hat flies away.

Green and black, orange and white,

Even purple - what a sight!

I like it when there's rain and snow,

But most of all when March hats blow.

Keep It Under Your Hat

This game works well during circle time. Hide a small object under a hat. Give the children clues about the object and have them try guessing what the object is. As the children learn how to describe objects, they can take turns hiding the objects and giving the clues themselves.

What Can I Be?

Collect hats from a variety of occupations such as construction worker, firefighter, police officer, chef, cowhand, baseball player, and clown. Place the hats in a pile. Let the children take turns selecting a hat to wear while you sing the following song.

Sung to : "Row, Row, Row Your Boat"

What, what can you be

With a hat like that?

You could be a ______,

With a hat like that.

Fun With Hats

Make a large number of cone hats in a variety of sizes and colors. Let the children use the hats in different combinations to play the games below.

• Select a number from a hat and stack that number of cone hats in a pile.
• Sort the hats by color or by size.
• Arrange a few hats in order from smallest to largest.
• Place the hats on stuffed animals by matching small hats to small animals and large hats to large animals.

Matching Hats and Colors

Draw six pairs of different kinds of hats on twelve index cards. Color three of the hats red, three yellow, three blue, and three green. If desired, cover the cards with clear self-stick paper for durability. Put the cards in a pile and let the children take turns matching the hats by kind or by color.

Hat Parade

Let the children show off their decorated hats by joining in a Hat Parade. Sing the following song while the children circle around the room.

Sung to : "The Mulberry Bush"

Here we go round in a Hat Parade,

A Hat Parade, A Hat Parade.

Here we go round in a Hat Parade,

Look at our fancy hats.

Here comes (child's name) with a fancy hat,

A fancy hat, a fancy hat.

Here comes (child's name) with a fancy hat,

Oh, what a grand parade!

Hat Charades

Have the children sit in a circle. Place several hats in the middle. Let one child select a hat and put it on. Begin playing music. Have the child wearing the hat remove it and place it on the head of the next child. Let the children continue passing the hat in this manner. When you stop the music, have the child wearing the hat put it in the middle of the circle and select a new hat. Start the music again and let the children pass the new hat. Continue until each child has had a chance to select a hat.

Hat Dance

Place a sombrero (or any kind of large hat) on the floor and let the children dance around it as they sing the song below. For a festive touch, let them wear sashes made out of colored crepe paper streamers around their waists.

Sung to : "La Raspa" (Mexican Hat Dance Song)

Let's dance and dance and dance,

Around the hat let's dance.

Let's dance and dance and dance,

Around the hat let's dance.

Tra-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la,

Tra-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la,

Tra-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la,

Around the hat let's dance.

Visitors since July 4, 1998