Kids Animal Character Halloween Costumes

One of the best things about celebrating Halloween is that we are allowed to dress up in outrageous costumes and no one thinks we are strange!

In this lens I focus on adorable animal costumes for children. Halloween Costumes for infants and toddlers have come a long way but chose wisely! I also explain the significance of various animal symbolizm.

One of the biggest areas of product expansion are new Halloween baby and toddler costumes. Babies are irresistible. Baby animals are adorable. Just combine the two together and you have a double whammy! Put a baby in a animal costume and it's a memorable photo time! Not only do animal costumes raise your loveable baby to a whole new level but no one can resist making OOOHH and Awwww remarks!

I selected some of the cutest costumes for kids to share with you. These costumes are a big step up from the sleepers offered at department stores that we use to be subjected to when I was a kid. Theses costumes will keep your little one warm on a cold evening as well.

All nature holds a deeper meaning if we look beyond the obvious. Trees, flowers, gems, colors even dreams have a symbolic meaning and often healing powers. Animals hold significant symbolism to Native Americans, Asians and many other people. Animals symbols were used in heraldry to represent family virtues and can be traced as far back as cave writings.

Often an animal will make itself known to someone by their repeated appearance or a special love of a certain animal. I have by no means given an in deepth analysis but just a glimpse into animal symbols so parents may choose outfits wisely.

The monkey is a symbol meaning fun, activity, charm and an energetic nature. It is one of the signs of the Chinese zodiac which shows a person who has many friends. It is a sign of natural curiosity, but can show self-indulgence and rebellion.

Note: From www.animal-symbols.com

Lion: The lion is a symbol for deathless courage, strength, fearlessness, bravery and royalty. Its body has been used in mythological creatures and in most cases when composing the body of the sphinx in Egyptian community.

Elephant: The elephant is a symbol for power, dignity, intelligence and peace.

Tiger: The tiger is a symbol for power and energy all over the world. It is featured prominently in Chinese mythology and is the second best behind the lion in the badge of military ranking.

Zebra (or Horse): The horse is a symbol for velocity, vitality and beauty and it represent power like that of the wind, storm, fire and waves.

Note: From www.animal-symbols.com

Birds: a symbol of human soul and it represents goodness, joy, wisdom and intelligence. For other groups like the Western art it symbolizes air and touch and throughout the life time, the bird flight is the symbol our soul journeying to the future. Additionally birds on flight represent the light of the spirit for hope, beauty and transcendence.

Note: From animal-symbols.com

Rabbits represents caution, fertility, rebirth, and safety in numbers. Rabbits live in a variety of climates and habitats and are adaptable. They nest in groups and are very prolific despite their short life span. They often feed at night eating large amounts of vegetation which make them bothersome to farmers/gardeners. Rabbits are very cautious and scare easily, running at great speeds to escape danger.

Note: From www.totewisdom.com

The Short Version

The Celts live in present day United Kingdom, Ireland and northern France over 2000 years ago. The Celts celebrated Samhain New Year on November 1st, which is the end of summer and the beginning of the harvest period and the beginning of the winter.

The Celts believed that the night before Samhain the boundary between the living and the dead was distorted. They celebrated the night of October 31 when ghosts of the dead where believed to return to earth causing trouble and damaging the community's food supply. Celtic priests called Druids thought it was easier to make predictions about the future during this time. For the Celts whose existence relied entirely on the whims of nature, the prophecies made by the Druids were an important source of comfort for the long, dark winter months ahead.

The Celts observed the event by burning crops and sacrificing animals to the Celtic Gods in bonfires built by the Druids. They wore costumes, typically of animal skins and heads, to tell each others' fortunes. And when the celebration was over, the Celts lit their hearth fires from the sacred bonfire to protect them during the coming months.

Once the Romans conquered the territory they ruled over the land for 400 years. Two Roman festivals were slowly combined with Samhain. One was called Feralia, a day in late October when the Romans commemorated the passing of the dead. The second honored Pomona, the Roman Goddess of fruit and trees. Pomona's symbol is the apple and was incorporated into the celebration of Samhain. This may explain the the tradition of bobbing for apples, practiced on Halloween.

Christian influence spread into the Celtic lands by the year 800. About this time, Pope Boniface IV designated November 1 as All Saint's Day as a time to honor saints and martyrs. Current belief is that the pope was attempting to replace the Celtic festival of the dead with a church-sanctioned holiday. The celebration was also referred to as All-hallows or All-Hallowmas, which was Middle English for All Saints' Day. Eventually, the night before it began to be called All-hallows Eve and then Halloween. In the year 1000, the church would make November 2 All Souls' Day to honor the dead. The holiday was celebrated similarly to Samhain with bonfires, parades and costumes such as angels, saints and devils. Together, the three celebrations became known as Hallowmas.

Immigrants flooded America in the second half of the 1800s, especially Irish immigrants fleeing their country's potato famine who popularized Halloween nationally. Taking from both Irish and English traditions, Americans began to dress up in costumes and go from door-to-door asking for food or money, a practice now known as trick-or-treating.

Symbolically, the giraffes impressive physical feature naturally asks us about "sticking our necks out" in terms of making connections (within family, community, business, creative endeavors, etc). In this respect, the giraffe is a messenger, encouraging us to elongate our vision, stretch ourselves, and reach as far as we can. The giraffe often makes an appearance when we need a little reminder that we all are grandiose beings with remarkable potential to rise ourselves up to a challenge. Furthermore, the giraffe demonstrates grace in striving. In other words, when the giraffe visits us, it's often a message to strive through challenges while maintaining balance and grace.

Note: From http://www.whats-your-sign.com/symbolic-meaning-of-giraffe.html

Dog is a symbol for companion and guardian. In a positive light they are a symbol of loyal, faithful, honesty and willing to fight injustice.

Note: From animal-symbols.com