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DIY Halloween Costumes Ideas for Toddlers
Little Ghosts And Goblins
Halloween is a great time for your little one now that they are old enough to somewhat understand the practice of Trick Or Treating and can stand at the door proudly holding their treat bag- even if your toddler can't get the words right yet.
Mine just says "Treat!" with a big beaming smile despite all the practice.
October weather is temperamental so having a costume that is easy for youngsters to stay warm, move about, and have clear visibility often discourages most parents from buying a store bought costume for the first few Halloweens. Toddlers can be fickle and after a few houses may grow bored, or be in the midst of a temper tantrum rather than continue.
Making a cheap costume from things already on hand may be the best route for the littlest trick or treaters.
The following ideas all use sweatpants and a sweatshirt as the base and are embellished to create the perfect costume.
The smallest Trick Or Treaters may grow bored after only a few houses so spending big money on a costume that they will outgrow quickly doesn't make much sense when one can be made cheaply.
Pumpkin, Ghost, Skeleton Idea
Pumpkin:
You will need:
An orange sweatshirt or hoodie if a hood is desired
A green stocking cap if no hood
Orange sweatpants
Green socks
Green gloves
Black felt pieces
Fabric glue
Take the black felt and cut out any shape desired to make spooky pumpkin eyes and a goofy grin and glue to the sweatshirt with fabric glue, allowing the pieces to thoroughly dry before wearing.
Dressed in the orange sweatshirt and pants, then add a green hat, if not wearing a orange hoodie. Add the green gloves and socks to add accents that will look like the pumpkin vine.
For added effect, find a Halloween Trick Or Treat bucket shaped like a pumpkin.
Ghost:
You will need:
A white sweatshirt or hoodie
White Sweatpants
Face paint
Black felt
Fabric glue
Similar to the Pumpkin, cut out a scary ghost face and glue to the sweatshirt with fabric glue. Add the white sweatpants to create the ghostly effect. Use the face paint to draw circles around the eyes and make the face pale.
Be sure to use products safe on young children and to keep makeup clear from the eyes and mouth.
Skeleton:
You will need:
Iron on printer paper
Iron
Black sweatshirt with hood
Black sweatpants
White gloves
White socks
White shoes
Face paint
Find pictures of bones and organs online and print these images on your iron on paper and safely iron onto the top and bottom of the costume, placing bones and organs in the appropriate places.
Add white gloves, socks, and shoes to act as bones. If you feel creative, draw bones on the socks and gloves as well. Use the face paint to make the face pale and draw shadows around the eyes.
Be sure to use makeup that is safe on infants and young children, taking care to keep the makeup from being ingested or in the eyes or mouths of young children. Check that they are non toxic in case accidentally ingested.
Carebear/Animal Idea Using a Hoodie
Animals are another easy costume idea that many variations are simply made with just a sweatsuit and felt ears, tails, and simple makeup.
Carebear
You will need:
One sweatshirt in the color of your desired bear
One package of iron on printing paper
Iron
One sweatpants in the color of your bear
Face paint
Gloves and socks in the color of your desired bear
Felt in the color of your desired bear and one contrasting color
One Pom Pom in the color of desired bear
Print the belly pattern of the the Carebear who your child plans to be and match the appropriate color sweatshirt and sweatpants. Iron on the pattern safely to the sweatshirt and let it cool before wearing.
Match socks and gloves to the color of desired Carebear.
Using fabric glue, make ears and glue them to the hood of the sweatshirt. If needed use pipe cleaners to bend a stabilize the ear shape. Glue the colored pom pom to the back of the pants to make a tail. Be sure to paint the bear's belly symbol on your child's cheek to finish the look.
Other animals can be created using the same basic idea adding ears and tails to the sweatshirts and pants including: mice, dogs, cats,etc.
By adding accents to the costumes through iron on decals and gluing felt pieces to the sweatshirt, a treasured creation that is fun for playtime throughout the year is created in just minutes.
Bat And Skunk
The Bat and Skunk are very similar to the other animals on the list with a twist.
Bat
You will need:
Black sweatshirt with hood
Black sweatpants
Purple material, preferably something with a shiny texture or metallic
Black gloves
Fabric glue
Purple felt and pipe cleaners
Taking the pipe cleaners and purple felt, bend into ear shapes and glue to the hood of the sweatshirt with fabric glue. Measure out the purple material to fit the "wing span" of your child and glue under the arms, cutting the edge that will be away from the child into points to simulate the bottom of the wings.
Add black sweatpants, black gloves and socks to finish the bat look.
Skunk
You will need:
Black sweatpants
Black sweatshirt with a hood
Black material
Cotton balls
Fabric glue
White socks
White gloves
Pink felt and pipe cleaners
A hanger
A belt
Shape ears out of the pink felt and pipe cleaners and attach to the hood with fabric glue. Use the black material and wind around the hanger to shape the tail, then using fabric glue glue on the cotton balls down the center to make the stripe. When dried, twist the end of the hanger around the belt and shape so that the tail stands up.
With left over cotton balls, create a white stripe up the back of the sweatshirt and glue. Add white gloves, sock and shoes. Attach the tail belt.
The Monster
Monster
You will need:
A sweatshirt with hood in desired monster skin tone
Sweatpants in desired monster skin tone
Colored pom pom
Colored cotton balls
Felt and pipe cleaners in desired color
Fabric glue
Gloves in desired color
Socks in desired color
Feathers, or fake fur
With the monster, you can have the most fun creating as you can customize your creation in any color combination or texture. Taking the sweatshirt in desired color, glue on cotton balls and pom poms along the arms and torso to create boils and skin tone. Add feathers or fur, if you like gluing on with fabric glue.
Do the same to the pants, adding as little or as much texture as you want.
Taking the pipe cleaners and felt, create horns for your character in any style and attach to the hood with fabric glue, doing the same to create character ears.
