Happy Child- all about you

Paper Plate Craft Activities: Paper Plate Dressing-up Hats

Who would have thought you could make inventive – and even pretty – hats out of paper plates? This is one of those paper plate craft activities that requires good scissor skills, but very little else, and can be adapted to any theme or style. The outer rim of the plate will be the brim

of your hat. You’ll cut the base of the plate into any shape that you’d like to stick up on the outside of your hat – this might be something that you would do, or it is a task for older kids. Always remember to be careful when using scissors!

You Will Need:

• paper plates
• scissors
• a pencil
• decorating supplies (paint, crayons, sequins, feathers – the possibilities are endless!)

How to Make It:

• For a crown: draw lines across the base in a crisscross pattern. Cut the lines across the lines, as far as the brim and fold the resulting points outwards. Decorate.
• For a bird hat: use the pencil to draw the basic body shape of a bird (a small circle on top of a large circle, on the base of the plate, making sure the bottom of the body touches the rim. Cut away the surplus base and fold the bird shape upwards. Decorate and add feathers to complete.
• Other hat ideas: bunny or bear ears; stick flowers around the brim; design emergency service badges; add wool to the brim to make hair. The list is endless!

Paper Plate Activities for Older Kids: Paper Plate Dream Catcher

Lots of paper plate activities are designed for younger children, but this one’s for slightly older kids who are able to use a needle and thread. Dream catchers are traditionally made by Native Americans, and hung above children’s beds to catch nightmares while they sleep.

You Will Need:

• A paper plate
• Paint and a paintbrush
• A large needle and some wool
• Ribbons
• Beads
• Feathers
• Scissors
• A hole punch
• Glue.

How to Make It:                                       

1. Use paint to decorate the rim of the paper plate and let it dry.
2. Carefully cut away the middle of the plate leaving the rim of the plate intact.
3. Thread the needle with some wool and use it to sew a spiders’ web like pattern across the interior of the circle.
4. Use the needle and thread to create a hanging loop at the top of the disk.
5. Punch three or four holes through the opposite end of disk from which to hang decorative ribbons.
6. Tie a knot at the end of each length of ribbon and thread three or four beads on the other end.
7. Glue a feather to the knot in each ribbon, just below the beads.
8. Tie the other ends of the ribbon through the holes in the disk.
9. The dream catcher is complete, so now you can hang it above your bed!