Warm Winter Hat Craft

Our weather is finally turning cooler (and we had our first rainy day yesterday!), so it was the perfect time for us to explore the very important and essential need of warm winter clothing with this simple Warm Winter Hat Craft!

Looking out our window it was easy to realize that warm clothing is necessary on cold days. This idea is also a very concrete idea for children to grasp: when they get cold, they put on warmer clothes like socks, sweaters and coats. But do they realize that not every person, including children, have these warm clothes? This was the tzedakah example we talked about as we made our Warm Winter Hat craft.

What You’ll Need

Cardstock
Scissors or cricut
White crayon
Watercolors
Paintbrush
Glue
Cottonballs

Putting It Together

Cut out a winter hat shape with scissors or your cricut.
Invite your child to decorate the hat with the white crayon.
Then paint the paper with watercolors, revealing the hidden design.
Let the hat dry.
Once dry, glue on cotton balls for some extra fuzzy fun.

Finished & Loving It!

My kids loved making these Warm Winter Hat Crafts! The younger two didn’t understand why they were drawing with white crayon. “Nothing’s showing up Ima!” They were so surprised when they painted with the watercolors and the design appeared! So fun to see their reaction.

It didn’t take very long for our hats to dry and then they could glue on the cotton balls however they wanted. The results were decorative, fluffy hats. These hats look so inviting—and were such a great way to talk about how necessary warm winter clothing is when it gets cold.

My younger kids didn’t understand that not every person always has warm clothing. It’s so important to expose them to this knowledge when they are young AND to empower them to help.

One way they can help is to connect people with these clothes. Many agencies can help with this so if you collect tzedakah, this might be a meaningful place to donate it. And of course discussion this donation with your kiddos.

There is also the opportunity for some hands-on participation: with your child, go through their clothes and pull out warm clothes that no longer fit them or that they don’t like. Take your kiddo with you as you drop it off at a nonprofit that works with people who need these resources. In our community, one of the local real estate agencies always hosts a winter coat (they accept other clothing too) drive. There was recently a donation collection box at our preschool. This was such a real, visible, and simple way to not only show my kids what tzedakah is and can be, but to actively participate in it.

I hung our Warm Winter Hat Crafts on the wall, reminding us of the cooler season and the need for warm clothing. I hope each time the kids see the hats they will remember enjoying making them, that not everyone always has access to warm clothing, and that they can help people with this need through tzedakah.