You know how it goes. It's two days before Halloween. Your child has changed their mind 16 times about their Halloween costume.
You are tired, and busy, and trying not to focus on how much sugar your child will be ingesting in two days' time. (But here are some ways to reduce that Halloween sugar consumption, if you want!)
It is extremely tempting to buy a cheap Halloween costume version of your child's favorite licensed cartoon character. After all, they are cheap, take zero effort and with a certain online retailer, you can get it in two days' time.
Deep down you know you want to encourage your child to make their own Halloween costume, but you are definitely worried that you will end up doing all "made" part of "homemade."
You don't have to make their costume! (Spoiler alert: your child will make it.)
Even though you'd rather spend your time reading aloud a Halloween novel or a stack of diverse Halloween picture books, I'm here to encourage you to help your child make their own Halloween costume.
It might not be effortless, but it will probably be cheap (or free!), and you can definitely have it done in two days' time.
How to Make a Halloween Costume the Easy Way
Congratulations! You've made it this far and so you obviously value your child's creativity and encouraging their growth mindset by giving them a good challenge!
Give the challenge to your child
First. The hard part. Your child must finally make a firm decision about what they want their costume to be. My kids chose "school bus" and "subway train." (Yes, I know.)
The second part is also for your kid. (See, no work for the parent, yet!) Have them sketch out a design, or describe to you what they want their costume to look like.
Third, your child will tell you how they plan on making their costume. Note that I said, "how THEY plan on making their costume."
Offer a little help from grown-ups
The fourth step is where you come in. You might need to drive them to the thrift store or art store, or help them locate items in the home.
However, you can also encourage your child to ask others for help! The local thrift store clerk can help your child locate good items for piecing together pirate, princess or storybook character costumes. The local art store clerk can help your child figure out how to transform a cardboard box into a robot or train.
Finally, watch your child's face light up as they don their new, diy Halloween costume and head out to trick-or-treat, or for one of these alternatives to trick-or-treating.
Homemade Halloween Costumes Examples
My kids came up with ideas for their transportation-themed Halloween costumes, and I assisted at their direction. Yes, younger kids will need more assistance than older kids, but the more work they do, the prouder they will be with their costumes.
My older son decided he was going to be a school bus for Halloween. He fashioned it from a cardboard box. I helped him cut the yellow poster board and put on the straps, but he decided on the design of green windows, heart and smiley face, cut it out and put it together himself, with a little help from double stick tape. He was so excited about wearing it for Halloween.
In addition, we made this subway train costume, which was even easier. The train costume could have been made in the same way as the school bus, but again, when you let your child decide how to make the costume, it will look how they want it to. And it doesn't get much better than that!
Making Costumes Boosts Kids' Confidence
Designing and making their own Halloween costume builds kids' self-esteem! Not only will they be able to bask in a sense of accomplishment, but the reaction from the treat-handing-out-public to homemade costumes gives kids a super-charged confidence boost!
(Self-esteem is also a common Halloween theme in picture books!)
In fact, the boys' loved their costumes so much they wore them multiple years in a row. And reusing a costume is the cheapest, easiest and fastest way to make a Halloween costume that I can think of!
Also note I'm not the only slacker mom who doesn't want to make elaborate Halloween costumes!
More DIY Halloween fun:
Raising a Happy Child says
This is pretty neat. I am hoping we will get to kid-made in the next couple years. For now we will be reusing the witch costume that was mostly homemade by my husband (the hat, however, does come from the store).
Christy says
Very cool. I have to admit that we buy costumes. So bad.
Steph says
Love it, love it, love it!
Last year the whole family had so much fun making PBug's hot air balloon costume (and she was the talk of the neighborhood!). It wasn't perfect either but she did most of the painting and decorating herself.
This year she will be a farmer, since that's what she [currently] wants to be when she grows up. We found what she needed at Goodwill. Her brother is going to be a cow, simply because someone gave us a cow costume once and it goes so well with hers 🙂
Jessica says
Oh! How cute--love the heart & the smiley face. *Real* school buses should consider such pimpin'.
You'll be happy to know we have never succumbed to a store-bought costume. This year I went the extra mile, I bought a Simplicity pattern.
I am in the process of sewing a Native American Indian costume for Benjamin.
I figure, I survived cancer...I can survive Simplicity, right?
Savvy Homemade says
Hi Mom and Kiddo.
Now that's what I call 'homemade', nice work! What else are you making for Halloween this year? If you are interested, you can enter anything homemade for Halloween in this Homemade Halloween Contest $400 in prizes!