Make and Take a Feather Headdress: Family Activities

The Pitt Rivers Museum has many beautiful objects and we took a closer look at these during this October half-term.  This was a joint event with the Oxford University Museum of Natural History (OUM) who focused on 'Beasts', therefore making 'Beauty and the Beasts'!  Over 1,200 children attended the three-day event with their families and friends and we had a great time making feather headdresses, armlets and tooth necklaces. In the OUM they made beastly sloths and cock-eyed squids.

Have you ever thought about how people make themselves beautiful? Well in the Pitt Rivers Museum we have loads of examples of how people from all over the world and from the past have made themselves look beautiful. Our ideas about beauty are all culturally determined so it is difficult to explain ‘real’ beauty when a defect in one country is desirable in another. Different cultures view beauty in so many different ways so beauty is in the eye of the beholder!  How do you make yourself beautiful?...

South American Feather Headdress PRM 1886.1.907 © Pitt Rivers Museum

During October half term we made beautiful headdresses based on examples from the museums collection. Here is an example of a South American feather headdress that is on display in the museum, it is made from the brightly coloured feathers of a Macaw bird and Green Parrot.

Make and Take Feather Headdress © Pitt Rivers Museum

We made feather headdresses using paper feathers like the ones below. Would you like to make one at home? Here are a few steps to follow to make your very own! Firstly make a headband by cutting out a strip of card and measure it around your head to make sure it fits. Glue on the feathers to the inside of the band. Then wrap the band around your head, again measuring to fit, and then staple it together. Now it’s ready to wear!





Feathers to Cut Out © Pitt Rivers Museum