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8 cute homemade Halloween costumes for kids

Leslie Anderson
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Whether it’s your child’s first Halloween or their fifteenth, we have you covered. With some items that can be found around the house or at the local craft store, you can create some of the cutest and coolest homemade Halloween costumes for your kids. Take a look at some of the ideas that we’ve discovered.

Homemade Halloween costumes for kids

Witch costumes

One of the most popular Halloween costumes for kids is the witch’s costume. Luckily, it’s also one of the simplest to create. You’ll take two 31 by 20-inch fabric rectangles and sew them together. Make sure you leave an armhole on each side and an opening for the head and neck. In the neck area, you will sew a channel through which you’ll thread a piece of lace, ribbon, or string. This will be the trim. Finally, you’ll add the witch’s hat and broomstick.

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Consider using a patterned fabric with black combined with white, orange, green, or any color for a fun twist. You can also alter this costume for a wizard by sewing sleeves into the armholes or adding sleeves to the pattern.

family wearing Halloween masks made from boxes
Shutterstock

Box masks

Taking a box that would fit over your child’s head might give you and your little goblin just the right inspiration for a mask. First, your child can decide what type of creature they want to be. From there, they can let their imagination go. Depending on the character your child chooses, you’ll need to have the following items on hand:

  • Markers
  • Stick-on decals
  • Scissors
  • Glue
  • A cup to use for a stencil for eye holes

The box can be transformed into a robot’s head, Frankenstein’s monster, an alien—the sky’s the limit as to what sorts of ideas your child will come up with.

a family dressed as ghosts
Daisy Anderson / Pexels

Ghosts

When Halloween falls on a weekday in the middle of a busy week, you might be strapped for time, and perhaps shopping for a costume wasn’t on the to-do list. Nevertheless, the easiest and fastest of all the homemade Halloween costumes is the ghost.

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The first step is to take an old sheet and place it over your child’s head just to make sure it’s not too long. If so, you’ll need to hem up the bottom. While the sheet is still on your child’s head, you’ll also need to mark where the eye holes will go. Once the holes for the eyes are cut out, your little ghost is ready to go.

children dressed as mummies
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Mummies

Another cute costume is the mummy. For this costume, you’ll need the following items:

  • Face paint in black and/or white for detailing around the eyes (optional)
  • White thermal underwear
  • White knee-high socks
  • White or gray beanie (if available)
  • White or beige cloth bandages (2 rolls)

In place of the cloth bandages, you can use toilet paper, but it might not stay put.

Your child will put on thermal underwear, socks, and a beanie. After that, you can start wrapping the bandage around their head, going diagonal to start on the upper torso. Secure the end at the waist with a safety pin. Then take the second roll to wrap around the waist, working your way down the leg. Pin at both sides and repeat the process for the other leg. Take the extra bandages and wrap them around the arms.

boy wearing red cape
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Superhero

Another great costume is your child’s favorite superhero. An added bonus would involve already having the pajamas with the character’s logo or a print of his or her hero costume. Then, you would take some fabric that would complement the PJs and sew around the edges. You can either add some extra fabric to it around your cape crusader or use a safety pin to secure it. A cloth or paper eye mask would add the perfect extra detail.

Lego kid

If your little architect or engineer loves playing with Lego blocks, then they will love this homemade Halloween costume. You’ll take a box and paint (or spray paint) it whatever primary color your child likes the most. While it’s drying, you can take some cups that are about 4 inches in diameter and paint them the same color as the box. Once they are dry, you can glue them in two straight rows onto the box. This part makes up the Lego block. For additional coordinating, you can find a bodysuit or thermal underwear that’s the same color as the block.

Baby BB8

Likewise, “Star Wars” characters still rank high among the favorite Halloween costumes for kids. So why not take your Baby BB8 along with the rest of crew? For this adorable creation, you’ll need:

  • Four fleece panels
  • A gray fabric marker
  • Orange and gray crafting felt
  • Fabric glue or super glue
  • Poly-fill stuffing
  • Elastic
  • Styrofoam base or bowl for the head (it’ll resemble more of a small hat)

For BB8’s body, you’ll sew the fleece panels together leaving holes for the head and arms. You can draw or trace the droid’s designs on paper to create a stencil for the orange felt. After creating and cutting out the designs, you’ll then glue them onto the fleece. (Hand-stitching a few small darts around the out edges would also secure the designs.) Using the gray fabric marker, you’ll draw the lines that give BB8 his soccer ball look.

Next, you’ll line the body with the fleece, sew around the edges, and stuff with the poly-fill. Then, you’ll sew the elastic into the bottom of the costume and tug at it until it has a round shape. Finally, you’ll create the droid’s head from the Styrofoam bowl and the extra orange and gray felt with elastic as a headband.

Lemon and lime

At last, another costume that doesn’t involve sewing! Plus, this set is perfect for twins, siblings who are close in age, or besties. To create the lemon/lLime costumes, you’ll need:

  • Two oversized shirts—one yellow and one bright green
  • Some white felt
  • Fabric glue
  • Scissors
  • Pencil
  • Styrofoam paintbrush

First, you’ll place the felt on the front of the shirt to gauge its size and draw a half-circle with the pencil. After that, you’ll cut out the half-circle, which can also be used as a stencil for the slice that will go on the back. Next, you’ll need to draw and cut four triangles out of the slice. Once the slices are made, then you’ll use the paintbrush to apply the glue onto the felt and place it on the shirt. You’ll repeat the process again with the second shirt until you have lemon and lime. Possibly, with some creativity, you might be able to come up with a costume for iced tea.

So now you have some wonderful ideas for homemade Halloween costumes to choose from. While half the fun is creating these clever disguises, for the most part, you’ll enjoy taking pictures.

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Leslie Anderson
Leslie Anderson
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Leslie Anderson is a freelance writer/writing coach from Roswell, N.M. She enjoys gardening, cooking, and helping students…
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