DIY Paper Graduation Caps for Kindergartners

Paper graduation caps make a great commemorative item for your Kindergartner to keep, but they must be created carefully to avoid breakage, as this is one craft your child will be happy to wear for weeks.

A piece of poster board provides a sturdy foundation for your kindergartner's paper graduation cap. You can use any color. Light colors are easier to decorate, but your kindergartner, with a newly found allegiance to the school that they have now attended for a year, will love it if you choose the school colors.

First, cut a square roughly the size of your child's head, plus a little extra (approximately 6-9 inches on each side should do it). Next, cut a strip along the other side of the poster board. As poster board is pre-cut so that each piece is the same size, you can simply cut along the short size for your kindergartner. This strip should be about 1.5 to 3 inches in width.

Take the strip of poster board and cut notches by carving triangles at regular intervals all along the strip. These triangles should reach about halfway into the poster board. Don't make them too wide or you'll lose some stability. Now make a circle out of the strip. This circle should be the size of your child's head and will be glued to the square that you cut initially. This square provides the actual mortar board portion of the paper graduation cap.

Next, fold the bits that you did not cut down to provide a base. This can be glued to the square that you cut, thereby creating a rudimentary paper graduation cap. If you have enlisted your kindergartner's help, you will want to use child safe glue at this point, though I would recommend that glue sticks do not have the same sticking power as regular white school glue. For the best stability, it might be a good idea to do this part yourself with a hot glue gun, but you'll have plenty of opportunity to do this later, should the strip separate from the rest of the cap due to too much love.

What graduation cap, paper or otherwise, is complete without a tassel? Tassels are sold at most craft stores, but you can easily create one with yarn. Yellow is most commonly used for graduating seniors, but for your kindergartener paper graduation cap, just about any color will do, as long as he or she likes it. Using a 6 inch strip of cardboard or a strip from your poster board, wrap the yarn as many times as you would like. Now pull the yarn off the strip of poster board, preserving the wrapping job. Tie another piece of yarn around the whole set of loops. Cut the other side to create your very own homemade tassel.

Connecting the tassel to the mortar board is another place where you can let your creativity run wild. You can glue the yarn to the center of the board, and then secure it using whatever you would like. Buttons and sequins can jazz it up, but you can also simply glue it. For added stability, poke a small hole through the center of the mortar board and run the yarn through it. Tie a knot on the other side and glue it down. This will not hold if your child tugs on it intently, but will provide a bit of extra support for your paper graduation cap's tassel.

Now you can either let your child decorate the paper graduation cap as he or she sees fit, or leave it as it is.