Pilgrim Hat Craft
Get ready for Thanksgiving fun with this easy Pilgrim Hat Craft for kids. It is a great costume accessory for school pageants, holiday plays, classroom activities, and family celebrations. This simple project uses basic supplies and a little creativity to turn paper and a bucket into a classic Pilgrim hat shape.
Kids will enjoy helping make their own costume piece, and grown-ups will love that it can be made with recycled materials.
Supplies
- 2 brown paper bags or a large sheet of kraft mailing paper
- Masking tape
- Old belt, or a strip of paper or fabric
- Beach bucket
- Scissors
- Hole punch, if using a real belt
- Adult help for cutting and fitting
Instructions
- Measure around the rim of the bucket with the belt. If needed, ask an adult to punch a new hole in the belt and trim off the extra length.
- Loop the belt into a circle and buckle it so it fits snugly around the bucket.
- If you are using paper bags, open the bags along the sides and cut off the bottoms. Tape the pieces together to make one large sheet.
- Place the paper over the upside down beach bucket, keeping it centered.
- Press the paper down around the bucket with your hands so it begins to take the shape of the hat.
- Slide the looped belt over the paper and push it down near the rim of the bucket to hold the paper in place.
- Adjust the paper until it looks like a tall Pilgrim hat crown.
- Carefully remove the shaped paper from the bucket and secure the hat with masking tape where needed.
- Add a paper or fabric band around the base if you want extra detail.
- Let kids wear the hat for a Thanksgiving play, costume day, or holiday celebration.
Fun Facts
The Pilgrims traveled to North America on the Mayflower in 1620. They are often remembered in Thanksgiving history because of their early harvest celebration.
Pilgrim clothing in real life was usually simple and practical. The tall black hat often seen in children’s Thanksgiving crafts has become a traditional symbol in holiday activities.
Patterns, Templates and Printables
This craft does not require a printable template, but you can use strips of brown paper, kraft paper, or recycled paper bags to create the hat shape.
Teacher Friendly Educational Extension
This Pilgrim Hat Craft works well with Thanksgiving classroom activities and history lessons. After making the hat, invite children to talk about what life may have been like for early settlers.
You can also extend the activity with:
Writing Prompt
Ask children to write a few sentences about what they would pack for a long trip across the ocean.
History Discussion
Talk about travel, food, clothing, and shelter in the 1600s compared to today.
Dramatic Play
Use the finished hats in a Thanksgiving pageant, classroom play, or pretend play center.
Supplies
Instructions
I make things all the time and I use what material I have on hand. It is nice to have this project for the upcoming Thanksgiving season. I think I enjoy the making more than the kids wearing.
That’s not unusual, but years from now they will be telling their children how their mother always made these cool things for them. Enjoy the creating for now and the appreciation will be there; it may just take a little while.