Winter Bobble Hat Craft

Its now winter which is a wonderful season to explore through fun arts and crafts. A fab non Christmas related winter themed craft is making bobble hats. This activity has endless learning opportunities and can be adapted to meet the abilities of different aged children.

All you need for this craft:

• Paper
• Coloured pens
• Cotton wool
• Coloured wool
• Cardboard
• Scissors
• PVA glue

Begin this craft by making the tiny pom pom for the top of the bobble hat. The addition of the pom pom really brings this craft to life! Cut out two small doughnut shape circles from card such as a cereal box. Sandwich the two circles of card together and start wrapping wool around them, passing the ball of wool through the centre. When cutting out the card circle templates think about the size of pom pom you are aiming for, the smaller the circle the smaller the pom pom. To make by circle templates I drew around the base of a large mug.

Continue to wrap the wool around the circle until its full and thick and you can no longer pass the wool through the centre. This is a great repetitive process to strengthen childrens fine motor skills, encourage concentration and determination. You could also add different colours of wool to make a colourful possibly even stripy pom pom. Predict how you think the way you have wrapped the two colours of wool will effect the over all look of the pom pom, for example will it make stripes, spots, patches or a rainbow effect.

If you do not have any wool or want to complete this activity with younger children then a great alternative is the large premade pom poms which can be picked up easily from craft shops or you could use a ball of cotton wool which also gives a great sensory aspect and depth to the craft.

Once you have finished wrapping wool around your template you can cut it to make your very own pom pom. This is the tricky part and may take two people for your first attempt. Begin by using scissors to cut between the two cardboard circles. Have the child hold the wool covered circle tight in the middle of their hands to hold the wool in place as you cut round it. Have an extra piece of wool ready to place between the two pieces of cardboard and tie into a tight knot. Remove the cardboard circle template and fluff out the wool, making the pompom. 

Draw and cut out or alternately print out an outline of a bobble hat and attach the pom pom to the top using PVA glue. Stick cotton wool to the base of the hat to give it a lovely sensory aspect and depth to the craft. Ask the children what the cotton wool feels like and what the texture reminds them of. Allow your child to decorate the hat however they want to providing them with the opportunity to get creative and experiment. Maybe you could provide paint, pens, glue and sequins for them to explore.

Also for older children this craft can be filled with even more learning opportunities as demonstrated in the picture. Ask the child to draw a repeating pattern on the hat. Repeating the different colours and designs continuously. Linking this activity to maths, patterns, shapes, colours and repetition.

This fun craft is a wonderful activity and can have lots of different purposes. Such as you could attach ribbon and hang it on your Christmas tree. Stick it to the front of a homemade Christmas card or thank you card. Or use it as a personalised gift tag stuck to presents.

I hope you will enjoy making this winter bobble hat craft!

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