Discussion and craft – To introduce students to the diversity of headwear and the purpose and significance of these in a multicultural society.
Aims
- To familiarise students with different styles of hats/headwear from around the world.
- To introduce students to the cultures and importance associated with different hats/headwear.
Preparation
- A range of hats/headwear from different cultures eg Mexican sombrero, Australian akubra, Jewish skull cap (kippah), Muslim hijab, Hindu/Seikh turban, nun’s veil, Scottish tamoshanter, French beret.
- Materials for making own headwear: cardboard, fabric, stuffing, paints.
- Story about hats/headwear. (optional)
- A range of picture books showing people wearing a variety of headwear.
What to do
- Teacher introduces topic and facilitates a class discussion about why different kinds of headwear are worn eg sun protection, fashion, faith etc.
Note: During this activity, the teacher should handle and treat each of the hats/headwear with respect and set the expectation for students to do the same. - Three or four children at a time model the hats/headwear for the rest of the class, who suggest how they differ eg material, size, colour, style and function.
- The teacher records the name of each item of headwear, the country/ies it is mostly worn in and/or by which cultural group.
- Students look at pictures of people and headwear in the picture books and suggest possible reasons/situations for which they might be worn.
- Teacher elicits students’ experiences regarding family or friends who use headwear for particular purposes.
- Students decide which type of hat/headwear they would like to make, and work individually or in pairs to craft one of the items they have discussed.
- Students model their headwear at a school assembly or to another group of students, explaining the background and purpose of the items they have chosen.
Extension activities
- Teacher/students read a range of stories about hats/headwear.
- Students learn about sun safety and the use of hats in sun protection.
- Display photographs of students with the headwear, accompanied by short written reports about their significance.
- Explore colloquial language associated with hats eg ‘putting on another hat’, ‘if the cap fits…’, ‘mad as a hatter’.
- Students learn to say ‘hello’ in the language associated with their hat/headwear.
- On a world map, students locate the country/ies with which their chosen headwear is associated, and with string, link them with photographs of the item.
- Students may bring in other items of clothing from home that have cultural or other significance.
Adapted from a Living in Harmony Funded Project, ‘All Together Now’, Churches’ Commission on Education, WA, 1999.
