Flatten regular sized paper grocery bags byunaffixing the bottom and removing handles. Cut horizontally into 3-4 strips per bag and give each child a strip (which will be a folded ring). Help children draw (or copy from stencil you make) the head design in middle of the strip as shown below.
Cut the ring at the back and staple to fit child’s head size. When adding teeth teach children about the iron in the beavers diet that makes them turn orange as they grow up. Let them add orange or white teeth (depending on whether they’re making a kit or an adult) below the mouth of the beaver using a gluestick.
Then help them draw or copy a beaver tail to staple to the back of the hat and decorate as they wish. We used card stock but you can use more bags, construction paper even magazine pages. They should be at least as long as the child’s head. You might want to have the child match the tail size to the ‘age’ of their beaver. Is it a kit? Teenager (yearling) or adult?
Many children have fun individualizing their hats. For example we had a pirate, a cyclops and a beaver mermaid! The hats are an inexpensive and fun way for a child to think about what it means to be a beaver and a good opportunity to talk about what a beaver eats, where she lives, etc. Making the tails is a good time to explain about beavers slapping the water to warn family members. By making the hat themselves they get to take personal pride in the finished product.
