Julia L. Hovanec

After sharing the picture book Hooray for Hat!, written and illustrated by Brian Won (Clarion Books, 2016), I introduce students to the work of milliner Philip Treacy, who designs incredible hats for others.

Students then thoughtfully design a hat for a friend while considering their friendʼs preferences. The lesson concludes with students sharing their hats with the class, completing a prompt and presenting the hats to their friends.

Lesson Benefits
This lesson teaches students about friendship and design. Learners discover that they can create something for someone else. Students consider what their friend likes and incorporate those preferences into the hat design. These concepts are important for hats and friendship and learn about a milliner who designs incredible hats for others. After that, weʼll design a hat for a friend.” young learners as friendships benefit children by reducing stress and creating a sense of acceptance and belonging. By designing a hat with someone else in mind, students discover that they can put the preferences of their friend ahead of their own.

By designing a hat with someone else in mind, students discover that they can put the preferences of their friend ahead of their own.

Procedures
Ask students: “What do you know about friendships? What makes a good friend?” Then ask: “What do you know about hat designers? Did you know that hat designers are called milliners?” After some discussion, follow with: “Today, we will listen to a book about

Sharing Hooray for Hat!
Before sharing the book, ask students to take notice of all the different hat designs in the book and what each hat says about the animal wearing it. Share the book and encourage students to shout, “Hooray for hat!” when prompted in the story. Then guide learners in a discussion about what they learned: “What did you learn about friendship? What did you notice about the hats?”

Next, introduce students to the work of milliner Philip Treacy (see Resource) and talk about the ways he creates hats with others in mind. “What do you think of his hat designs? Do you think you can design a hat for a friend?”

Creating the Hats
Give each student a party hat with their name written on the inside and a prechosen friendʼs name on the outside. Give each student dot paint markers, crayons, and a variety of accessories and glue. Demonstrate ways students can design a hat with a friend in mind. After the demonstration, invite students to use what theyʼve learned to design the hat for their friend.

When the hats are complete, invite students to share their hat and complete the following prompt: “I designed a hat for my friend who likes .” Students can then gift the hat to their friend, and everyone can wear their hats and shout all together, “Hooray for hat!” Afterwards, have students assist with cleanup as directed.

Julia L. Hovanec is an associate professor of Art Education at Kutztown University in Pennsylvania. hovanec@kutztown.edu