Rooster Hat
During a Red Day in the Syracuse Area, a kindergarten class made a rooster hat for the Barnyard Boogie out of poster board. All the students looked adorable in their hats while singing the Barnyard Boogie to Red. Poster board can be a little slippery so we redesigned the rooster hat and made it out of stiff felt. That is the picture that you see below. A mom from a pre-school in Syracuse used the design below but did not use stiff felt. Instead she used regular felt and cut the back of the white (where it sets on the back of a child's head) more in the shape of the back of a head. It fit on the child's head securely and did not need to be tied on to the child's head. That works much better!
Materials:
1. 2 pieces of white stiff felt (24” x 14”)
2. 1 piece of red stiff felt
3. Some yellow stiff felt
4. Two 1” diameter googly eyes (I bought mine at a craft store)
5. Glue gun
6. Hot glue
7. Some red yarn
(See picture for pattern)
Procedure:
1. Make the comb (the crown) and the waddle using the red stiff felt and the picture below as your guide. The crown only needs to be one piece, but the waddle cut two pieces exactly the same.
2. Cut two pieces for the yellow beak using the picture below as your guide. Using the two white stiff felt pieces, cut two heads exactly the same using the picture below as your guide.
3. Hot glue one beak to the inside of a white stiff felt head and glue the other beak the other inside white stiff felt head. Then do the same with the waddles. Set the comb (crown) between the two white stiff felt pieces way at the top and hot glue the crown to the head and finish gluing the white stiff felt together at the top only. What remains opened (in other words, what doesn't get glued together on the head) is the bottom of the head and where the waddle and beaks are – that is where the child's head will fit into the hat.
4. Glue the eyes onto the head.
5. Punch a hole into the waddles and tie string or yarn through them so that a child can tie the hat securely onto his/her head.
Activity 1:
1. Play the Barnyard Boogie from Red's recording Teaching Peace
2. Talk about what a rooster looks like, how they act, etc. We've attached a link to a website that includes the anatomy of a rooster and hen as a guide for you:www.aces.uiuc.edu
3. Like the Barnyard Boogie, humans have different talents and can be unique in their own ways. Discuss what life would be like if everyone were exactly the same. Discuss how we can appreciate every one's talents and individuality.
4. If you have a shadow screen in your classroom, playing the Barnyard Boogie and wearing the rooster hats is so much fun when doing it behind the shadow screen. You could also use the rooster hats for a performance on a special day like Mother's Day, Grandparents' Day, etc.
Activity 2: A simple square dance for movement
This activity can be used with the rooster hats mentioned above. Students should be in 2 long lines facing each other. The lines should be about a foot apart.
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I know a rooster down on the farm |
Both lines take 8 steps away from each other |
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Everyday at dawn he sounds the alarm |
Both lines take 8 steps toward each other to be back at the beginning again. |
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He doesn't do it like the other roosters do |
Both lines take 8 steps away from each other |
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He sings, "Cock-a-doodle-oodie-oodie-oodie-oodie-oo" |
Both lines take 8 steps toward each other while flapping their arms like a rooster. |
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Chorus: He's a swinging, singing rooster. He loves to improvise. He's the kind of clucker who was born to harmonize. |
Swing with the person in the other line that is standing in front of you. |
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And everyday at dawn as the sun begins to rise you can hear him do the barnyard boogie |
Swing with your partner in the opposite direction. |
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During the rooster sounds |
Both lines dance freely the way they think the rooster might be dancing |
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Now all over the country everybody's heard |
Both lines take 8 steps away from each other |
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About the Barnyard Boogie and the one they call the bird |
Both lines take 8 steps toward each other to be back at the beginning again. |
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Bantams and Leghorns they can't resist the beat |
Line 1 bows to Line 2 then line 2 bows to line 1 repeat |
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Bobbin' up and down while they're dancin' with their feet. |
Both lines bob up and down. |
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Chorus: He's a swinging, singing rooster. He loves to improvise. He's the kind of clucker who was born to harmonize. |
Do-Sa-Do with the partner in front of you. |
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And everyday at dawn as the sun begins to rise you can hear him do the barnyard boogie |
Do-Sa-Da in the opposite direction. |
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During the rooster sounds |
Both lines dance freely the way they think the rooster might be dancing |
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Verse 3: Repeat Verse 1 moves |
