Box of hats

I think every home with preschoolers should have a box of hats.  Hats just seem to inspire imagination.  Last year, I began collecting all sorts of hats for my three-year-old.  I found a fire hat, hard hat, pirate hat, and a few others in the dollar section at Target.  I added a REAL hard hat I had left over from my working days (that I very much treasure actually) and the coolest leprechan hat I've ever seen that I found on super-clearance at BabiesRUs.  Someday I plan to add capes and masks and other exciting props and put everything into a wooden toy box painted with stars all over it. 
I had planned to give this hat collection to my boys for Christmas, but at the time, my son was very adamant about a few other things he wanted and I do believe that children should get at least the reasonable things they ask for for Christmas.  So, I pulled the hats out of the closet on a day when the kids needed a distraction.  It took them awhile to catch on, but now the hats are played with daily and our oldest often insists on us calling him a fireman and referring to our home as a fire station. 
Not only do the kids love the hats, but they make for great photo-ops.  Today, St. Patrick's Day, I decided to spend some time playing with the green hat and the camera.  Here are the results: