subject: Homemade Costumes With Kids [print this page] Creating costumes for Halloween or just for dress up can be a fun and personal experience for parents and children. An interesting costume idea for your child need not be elaborate and detailed, but can be simple and easy. Smoothing the process to make memories while using imagination takes some planning and simple tips and tricks.
As children love to dress up as their favorite character from TV or film, parents may need to provide alternatives, by showing pictures or internet sites, to give kids ideas beyond the latest Disney movie. This inspires creativity and thinking outside the box, and sets children apart from their friends for their creative thinking.
Some easy ideas for homemade costumes that do not rely on pop culture characters include favorite foods, bugs, animals or items. Kids may want to be a box of cereal, a favorite flower, or a book character. Simple, common clothing items such as elegant hats, play jewelry, wigs and funny glasses make fast and cheap costumes for kids.
What kinds of costumes can be made at home?
Many children feel claustrophobic wearing masks, and do not like having their eyes covered. Makeup or face paint provides a perfect way to spice up a costume easily and inexpensively. To avoid itchy allergies, test makeup ahead of time and use hypoallergenic products. Clown noses, animal whiskers, green witch faces and gory zombie makeup are fun and simple additions to a homemade costume.
Household items can be used to create simple but creative costumes, with a little thought and planning. Kids can practice their cutting, pasting, fine motor and social skills through this process. For example, large boxes make excellent costume pieces; simply cover with aluminum foil to make a robot or wrapping paper to make a present. Old clothes, particularly period pieces, can be combined to make fun and interesting costumes. A simple set of coat hangers can be bent to produce a magic wand, a tiara, and fairy or ladybug wingsjust add glitter and fabric. Coat hangers other wire can also be connected to create a large circle. When attached to suspenders, this creates a costume of an ornament, bowling ball or pumpkin.
For older kids, creating group costumes with friends, such as Twilight characters, Harry Potter characters, bowling ball and pins or another area of of interest, can be a creative outlet as well. With stronger creative and fine motor skills, older kids can show exceleltn planning and imagination in their costume choices. Boys in particular love gory themes, such as zombies, in which they wear torn clothing and face paint. They can also dress as a garbage can (suspended from their shoulders, with trash attached, or other gross and gory characters or things. Girls may want to experiment with older hair styles and makeup, or dress in period pieces such as Edwardian or Renaissance. With planning and creativity, creating a fun and inspired costume idea for your child is an excellent time for building family connection. Children will remember their experiences and reflect on them for years to come.
