Sticky Birthday Hat Craft

Today Lovey is turning five and in a few short weeks Tinker will turn three, so we are in full birthday celebration mode. I’m thrilled to have a special guest sharing a fun birthday craft with you today. Stephanie from Twodaloo and her twins have made some adorable contact paper crafts in the past, so when we thought about sharing a birthday hat craft I just knew you would love it!

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Thanks for having me over today, Shaunna! Since my twins just turned three, birthdays have been a central theme in our playing and creating. One of the ways we celebrated was by making these sticky birthday hats using contact paper and an assortment of craft supplies. Wearable art is always a winner at our house!

To make our sticky birthday hats, we used:

• Contact paper
• Card stock or poster board (we used large sheets of card stock with fun patterns)
• Tape
• Thin elastic or elastic cord
• Glitter
• Tinsel
• Assorted lightweight craft supplies (small pom poms, buttons, felt shapes, gems, etc.)

To make the hats, I first rolled the card stock into cones and taped them in place, trimming the bottoms so they were even. To make them sticky, I covered them with strips of Contact paper, sticky side out. Next I set out a tray of collage materials including glitter stars, small pom poms, plastic gems, felt shapes, and buttons in the shape of the number three. Gathering the materials was fun because I let the twins choose what they wanted to use from our crafty stash! To their selections I added some tinsel that I got from the Christmas clearance aisle and some shakers of glitter. Then the fun could begin!

Our first order of business was wrapping tinsel around the hats. Instant sparkle and smiles!

The twins were very meticulous about getting all of their collage materials placed exactly where they wanted them. I love using Contact paper for activities like this because the items can be repositioned and we don’t have to worry about glue or other adhesives. We do plenty of messy activities here- it’s nice to have one with relatively easy cleanup occasionally!

Of course, to make up for the fact that we didn’t use glue, we did spread a good amount of glitter all over the art table (and floor). So I can’t say it was totally mess free. But it’s worth it for all the smiles!

After the twins were satisfied with their hats, I added a chin strap by poking holes at the bottom of the hats on opposite sides and tying on a piece of thin elastic from my sewing cabinet. Perfect!

Activities like this one are not only fun, but they target lots of great skills. Doing activities that relate to real-life events and celebrations is great for vocabulary and language development and helps keep learning exciting and meaningful. Our “wearable art” resulted in lots of pretend play, too! Placing the collage materials just so provided lots of great fine motor practice. The array of materials also offers opportunities for color/shape recognition and counting/patterning.

If you liked our sticky birthday hats, we’ve got quite a collection of Contact paper activities on the blog. If you are looking for more activities that encourage language development, I have an ongoing series called Language Basics that you might enjoy- we’re exploring language development, how to stimulate it in your home, and if/when you should be worried about your child’s communication skills. You can find me on my blog, Twodaloo, or connect with me on Facebook, Pinterest, or Instagram. Thanks again, Shaunna, for inviting me to share today!

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