July 4th Party Hats

Can you believe it's July 1st already? And a hot one to boot! Whew! The kids made party hats for the big Independence Day weekend.

First I took big construction paper (in red, white and blue) and cut some strips from the top half, leaving every other strip.

It looks like a birthday cake, I know. Notice what a terrible job I did cutting. It doesn't have to be perfect. Or even almost close to perfect. I could have taken the time to measure each cut, but why? Anyway, the kids glued some star cut-outs onto the tops of the strips. This is necessary to weigh the strips down. Notice these stars are glued to the BACK of the hat, where the children write their names. Then they flip it over and decorate the front.

I had written out "Happy 4th of July" on a piece of paper for the kids to copy (if they wanted to). Then they could glue on more stars and decorate it. Those smaller stars were made with hole punches. Once the glue was dry, I added a small piece of paper on the side (because they weren't quite long enough to fit around the kids' heads) and stapled it. Now those strips bend down, almost looking like fireworks (I think) and even bounce as the kids move.

If they don't seem to be bending enough, just roll them down and hold for a few seconds, then let go. That should do it.

The kids had fun making these and wore them most of the day.

And now, a three-day weekend. Ahhh......