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How to Make Paper Graduation Caps for Preschool Grads

Preschool is an exciting age, but now your little one is growing up and moving on to Kindergarten. This is a bittersweet moment for many parents, as it is one of many steps in the long chain that indicates that your child is getting older. Many parents would like a fun way to commemorate this moment forever.

Whether your preschool offers an “official graduation ceremony” or not, you can create your own paper graduation cap to keep as a memento of your child’s passage from preschool to Kindergarten.

Materials you will need for a paper graduation cap:

Square of cardboard

Fabric or construction paper

Strip of oak tag paper in color of your choice

Yarn or pre-fabricated tassel from art store.

Process to create a paper graduation cap:

Take the piece of cardboard from a package of t-shirts or a dress shirt. If you don’t have one of these readily available, you can cut out any light cardboard square. Make sure that the piece is just a little bit larger than the top of your child’s head.

Cover the piece of cardboard with fabric or construction paper. You can enlist your preschooler to help you pick out the type of fabric or color the construction paper in a fun way. If you want to make this especially exciting for your child, you can have him or her glue sequins or paste stickers on to the cap. Many graduating seniors at university graduations that I have attended write fun messages on the top of their graduation cap. You can have your child do the same on his or her paper graduation cap or you can simply write the year and your child’s name. The goal here is to make the graduation cap into whatever you like. If you and your child like wild and crazy, go that way. If you’d like something more formal, keep it that way. This is totally up to you!

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Now here’s the tricky part. If you want your child’s paper graduation cap to fit properly, wrap the strip of oak tag (which should measure about 4 inches wide) to a length that fits around the child’s head comfortably. It should not be too tight or your child will break it trying to get it off. If it is too loose, it will fall off of your child’s head. Glue this strip to the cardboard piece. Oak tag has the advantage of being heavy duty and will not fall, but you can use regular paper for this, as well. However, it will not last as long. Your child may also color or decorate this strip if you like. Tape the strip in the back or glue the two ends together.

You can design a tassel with the yarn or purchase one from almost any art store, particularly this time of year. Tape or glue this to the top of the paper graduation cap and voile! You have a great memento that your child will love to wear.

Bear in mind that paper graduation caps may break, especially in little hands. This version is remarkably easy to fix with a bit of glue (I love hot glue for fixing things, but you have to be extra careful that your child does not get involved in that part of the process).