How to make a Pirate Hat

Ahoy there! Recently we were invited to a pirate themed birthday party where DD had to wear a pirate dress.

Here is a pirate hat that I made for my daughter. Its quite simple to make.

1. All you have to do is grab 3 sheets of newspaper (two sided- no half sheets) for making a sturdy hat.
2. Spread it out infront of you sideways.
3. If you fold on the front at the middle from both sides (leave a little bit of space in the middle), 4. Take the first 3 sheets, fold them up and crease it. Do the same on the back side of the hat.
5. Measure your child's head size and staple it on both sides of the head so that it fits nicely on the head. Now the base of the hat is done.
6. You may use black construction paper or paint to colour the hat. I painted the hat black and sketched a skull on it to give it the pirate hat look.
7. I also added ribbons to the hat so that it could be fastened on her neck.

There you go, Mates! Your hat is done.

Dabbling with water colours...

Isn't it fun to pick up a paint brush and a box of water colours a jar of water and see your child pour his/her creative juices on paper. When letting your toddler enjoy watercolours, remember that 'Play' should be the keyword.

Let the flow of the brush, the dabbling of paint and water take its course on paper. Once they are done, you can pose a question, "I wonder what this looks like?"

These are some of the paintings that my two and half year old daughter created with her dad's participation over a period of two weekends and also the original titles of the paintings as she thought it depicted.

Title: A House in the Clouds


Title: The hiding sun


Title: A rose

Title: The Green Jungle

Title: 'Ellie' - The Elephant

Some of these paintings have been slightly modified to give it some shape to make it more meaningful for her. She is beginning to understand how a blend of colours can bring out a beautiful picture.

It is important to encourage them to enjoy the watercolours and 'discover' what they made instead of teaching them various techniques of handling the colours.