Simple Homemade Halloween Costumes

Halloween costumes for kids aren’t cheap–especially if you want ones that look good. Sure, you can head to the nearest drug store or mass merchandiser and purchase some flimsy plastic garment that slightly resembles one of the popular cartoon or movie characters. You may even find some junky-looking wigs and hats. None of the items you find at these stores will make a large dent in your wallet; unfortunately, none of the items will make fun, exciting costumes for your kids. So, if you want impressive costumes that will earn grins from your children, you will likely end up heading to a pricier store and spending big bucks. Or will you?

There is another option for good Halloween costumes, besides shelling out a great deal of your hard-earned money. You can make them! Now, I’m not talking about sewing or investing a lot of time–I’m talking about putting together some simple costumes out of common and inexpensive materials. You can even make this a family activity and have the kids help you make their own Halloween costumes.

So, where do you get an idea? I’ve searched the internet for you and found the best sites with clear and easy directions for costumes. These costumes are not complicated, so you should have no problem finding some that you and your family can make together. The sites I am listing here have a multitude of costumes from which you can choose; I am simply listing the ones I find the most interesting here.

Dresser
Find directions on how your child can dress up as a dresser for Halloween here. This idea is great for trick-or-treating, but not so great for school parties, as the cardboard dresser drawers will probably prevent your child from sitting down.

Bag of Gumballs
My son used this costume last year as a kindergartener and he was the talk of the school! This costume can be put together in just a few moments, provided you blow up the balloons ahead of time. Directions can be found here .

Spaghetti and Meatballs
This costume is great for any age, from young toddlers on up to adults. You can adjust the number of “spaghetti” strands and “meatballs” however you like. See how this costume looks here.

Stop Sign
This one is so easy, and very inexpensive. You could also adapt this idea to any type of street sign–your child could decide to be a Yield sign, a traffic sign, or a No Smoking sign, for example. Look at the basic directions here , and then come up with your own spin on the idea. You could also decide to use markers instead of the paint.

Laundry Basket
Use one of your older laundry baskets for this costume, because you will be cutting out the bottom of it. The directions on this site, which you can find here , say to use hot glue to attach pieces of laundry to the basket; instead, I would recommend clipping the laundry on with binder clips or tying it on with thread or yarn so that your child will not have to worry about the laundry falling off. This, like the dresser costume, is not a good idea for school parties because it may be difficult for your child to sit while wearing this costume.

Lego
What kids don’t play with Legos? This costume couldn’t be easier or cheaper to make, and your child will have a lot of fun wearing it, too. Let your child choose what color of Lego to be. The directions are here .

Most of the ideas I have listed above are quite adaptable. For instance, take the basic premise of the Stop Sign idea–two large pieces of cardboard, one on either side of the body, held up by suspender strings attached to each board. If you think about it, this is really what advertisers used to call a “sandwich board,” which was used by stores to get consumers walking past their stores to become aware of what was in their shops. You can take this idea and make it into an actual “sandwich board” advertising sign, like stores used many years ago (make an advertisement for your school, perhaps)–or, you can take the boards and make them into an actual sandwich! The boards could each be a slice of bread, and then you could attach other boards inside for lettuce, lunchmeat, and cheese. Or, cut the boards into triangle shapes and make your child’s costume be a slice of pizza. The “sandwich board” concept can be used for many different items–use your imagination.

Another adaptable idea is the Lego idea. Taking a box and wearing it as for the Lego costume can be used for other costumes. You could paint the box dark brown and it could be a table–simply attach some plastic dishes, silverware, and cups to the top for place settings. Or, cover the box with aluminum foil and your child can be a robot. All you would need to do is add a smaller aluminum foil-covered box for a hat and some silver face paint. Another idea would be to paint the box blue and then glue on some large fish (ones your child has colored and cut out, perhaps) and some fern-type fake plants and you have an aquarium.

Brainstorm with your child and talk about some of these ideas. Show your child some of the costumes on the websites above, and allow your child to choose a costume to help you make. Believe me–you will end up spending a lot less money on Halloween this year…and, you will have a much happier child as well.