Abigail Beal
creativecraftsteachers@yahoo.com

Creative Crafts Teachers Ezine
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CreativeCraftsTeachers/

Are you looking for a good craft for your toddlers? This is a simple craft that is fun to do and provides them with entertainment afterwards. Create a variety of fancy paper plate hats with your toddler – Daisy, Sunflower, The Sun and a Ladybug. Your child will have fun making the hats and then fun running around wearing them!

Your child can do most of this project – at a toddler’s age they will more than likely need help with cutting of flower petals and you will need to staple on the ribbon that ties their mask on. But they can complete all of the coloring or painting and gluing.

This is a fun project to do if you are going on a family picnic or if you are planning to go to a parade - why not let the kids have fun dressing up too?

Daisy Paper Plate Hat

You will need: one regular sized paper plate, white construction paper (at least four sheets), either yellow tempura paint or a yellow marker, scissors, a stapler and yellow ribbon.

Begin by either drawing with the yellow marker or painting with your yellow paint in the center of the plate. Paint or draw the entire plate yellow.

Then cut out flower petals. You want the petals to be small enough that they hang straight, so that they do not droop down the sides of your child’s face. A good length would be 3". Cut petals for the plate, using one petal as your template. Give these petals to your child to glue onto the plate.

On the inside of the plate on opposing sides you will staple ribbon so that your child can wear this as a hat. Use a half a yard of ribbon and cut this in half. Staple one half of the ribbon onto the plate and then the other half directly opposite to it. Tie onto your child’s head to see if you like the way it fits. Cut the ribbon down if necessary. It is always easier to begin with more ribbon than less.

Sunflower Paper Plate Hat

You will need: one regular sized paper plate, yellow and orange construction paper (at least four sheets), either black tempura paint or a black marker, scissors, a stapler and yellow ribbon.

Begin by either drawing with the black marker or painting with your black paint in the center of the plate. Paint or draw the entire plate black.

Then cut out flower petals. You want the petals to be small enough that they hang straight, so that they do not droop down the sides of your child’s face. A good length would be 3". Cut petals for the plate, using one petal as your template. Give these petals to your child to glue onto the plate. Use both the yellow and orange paper to cut petals.

On the inside of the plate on opposing sides you will staple ribbon so that your child can wear this as a hat. Use a half a yard of ribbon and cut this in half. Staple one half of the ribbon onto the plate and then the other half directly opposite to it. Tie onto your child’s head to see if you like the way it fits. Cut the ribbon down if necessary. It is always easier to begin with more ribbon than less.

The Sun Paper Plate Hat

You will need: one regular sized paper plate, yellow and orange construction paper (at least four sheets), either yellow tempura paint or a yellow marker, scissors, a stapler and yellow ribbon.

Begin by either drawing with the yellow marker or painting with your yellow paint in the center of the plate. Paint or draw the entire plate black.

Then cut out sun rays. You want the sun rays to be small enough that they hang straight, so that they do not droop down the sides of your child’s face. A good length would be 3". Cut sun rays at different lengths – making some 1" and others 3" for the plate, using one petal as your template. Give these sun rays to your child to glue onto the plate. Use both the yellow and orange paper to cut petals.

On the inside of the plate on opposing sides you will staple ribbon so that your child can wear this as a hat. Use a half a yard of ribbon and cut this in half. Staple one half of the ribbon onto the plate and then the other half directly opposite to it. Tie onto your child’s head to see if you like the way it fits. Cut the ribbon down if necessary. It is always easier to begin with more ribbon than less.

Ladybug Paper Plate Hat

You will need: one regular sized paper plate, black construction paper (at least four sheets), either red tempura paint or a red marker, scissors, a stapler and red ribbon.

Begin by either drawing with the red marker or painting with your red paint in the center of the plate. Paint or draw the entire plate red.

Then cut out the head of the ladybug. This should be about 1/3 of the size of the paper plate. Also cut out the stripe that goes down the ladybug’s back. Then cut out several dots for the ladybugs back. Give these to your child to glue on.

On the inside of the plate on opposing sides you will staple ribbon so that your child can wear this as a hat. Use a half a yard of ribbon and cut this in half. Staple one half of the ribbon onto the plate and then the other half directly opposite to it. Tie onto your child’s head to see if you like the way it fits. Cut the ribbon down if necessary. It is always easier to begin with more ribbon than less.

Abigail Beal © 2004 Abigail Beal a.k.a. “the Gift-wrap Goddess” teaches gift wrap in suburban New York. She is the author of 2 ezines: GiftWrapGoddessWraps and CreativeCraftsTeachers. To subscribe: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CreativeCraftsTeachers/ http://groups.yahoo.com/group/GiftWrapGoddessWraps/
contact: creativecraftsteachers@yahoo.com