Easy Pilgrim Hat Craft Little Bins for Little Hands

Learning about Thanksgiving will be fun for kids this year with this cute Thanksgiving Paper Cup Pilgrim Hat Craft! Use it in a classroom or at home, and pair it with one of these turkey crafts for Thanksgiving this year!

PAPER CUP PILGRIM HAT CRAFT FOR KIDS

There’s more to Thanksgiving than turkeys! We try to include all kinds of Thanksgiving crafts and activities around the holiday, to help teach our kids about the history of the holiday, and not just how we celebrate now.

These paper cup pilgrim hat crafts are perfect for telling about the first Thanksgiving! They’re super easy to make, and little hands have no problem putting them together!

Add to your Thanksgiving-themed learning with these Thanksgiving STEAM activities, this Thanksgiving I-Spy activity, or this adorable Turkey Pool Noodle craft!

TIPS FOR MAKING THIS PAPER CUP PILGRIM HAT CRAFT

CUPS. We found these black paper cups at the dollar store. If you can’t find black in your area, then you can also paint or color white paper cups black.
CUTTING. If your students are young, or are in need of more support, you may cut out some or all of the paper pieces for them in advance. If you want them to do some cutting, you can just prep the yellow belt buckle piece in advance.
GLUE. While glue sticks work well for holding the paper hat band and buckle to the cup, they don’t work well for holding the paper cup to the black circle piece. Make sure to use school glue for that.

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HOW TO MAKE A PILGRIM HAT WITH A PAPER CUP

SUPPLIES:

Black Paper Cup
Black, Yellow, and White Construction Paper
School Glue
Glue Stick
Scissors

EASY PILGRIM HAT CRAFT INSTRUCTIONS:

STEP 1: The first thing you need to do to make your paper cup pilgrim hat craft, is to cut out the construction paper pieces. We started with the black circle piece. It needs to be about an inch bigger around than your black paper cup. You can have students trace around the cup, or you can help them cut a circle.

CLASSROOM TIP: If making this Thanksgiving craft with a group of kids, or in a classroom, have students also write their names on the back of their cups before painting to keep their projects separate and easy to locate when they’re done.

Each student will also need a strip of white construction paper about an inch wide and long enough to wrap around your paper cup, and a small square of yellow construction paper with the center cut out, as shown below.

The small yellow square could be difficult for students with lesser fine motor skills, so keep in mind they may need more support.

VARIATION: If you can’t find black cups, or don’t have them on hand you can always get white paper cups and paint or color them black instead. Brown cups might also work!

STEP 2: Once all your pieces are cut out, you’re ready to put your Thanksgiving craft together! Have students use a glue stick to attach the white strip to the wide rim of the cup.

We use a bit of glue on the end of the paper strip and attached it to the cup first. Then, we put a little glue on the end of the other side, and wrapped it around, and glued it to itself.

STEP 3: Once your white paper strip is added, you can attach the yellow belt buckle to the front of the cup! Have students rub their glue stick over the back of their yellow square piece, and press it onto the front of their cup as shown.

STEP 4: To complete your pilgrim hat craft, you will need to use school glue to attach the black paper circle. Put glue along the rim of the cup, and then set it in the middle of your black circle to make the brim of your hat! Glue sticks will not work for this, so be sure to use liquid school glue instead.

Allow your projects to dry for 10-20 minutes (depending on how generous students were with the school glue), before handling them.

When your pilgrim hat is finished, this is what it will look like! Each student’s hat will be a little different, and that’s okay! Some will have large buckles, some will have small. Some will have wide brims, and some will have more narrow brims. Each one, however, will be adorable and great for Thanksgiving!