3 Easy Homemade Halloween Costume Ideas For Young Children

The price of Halloween costumes continues to rise, while the quality of most leaves something to be desired. While an adult may not mind paying $40 or $50 for a decent costume, shelling out even half of that on a child's Halloween costume seems crazy. Especially if you know that it will only be worn once and then discarded.

Remember how years ago when we were young kids we often made our own costumes (or our parent's did)? In today's busy world, may people believe they just don't have the time to help their children put together a cool and unique homemade Halloween costume… but is that really true?

There are many ways you can easily create a fantastic looking costume without spending hours of time on it. You don't even need to have any great sewing skills either! All that's really required is a child's sweat suit, a few craft supplies, some basic household items - then throw a bit of imagination into the mix.

Why not give it a try and whip up one of the easy homemade Halloween costume ideas that follow with your own child this year? You're sure to have a blast together!

Delightful Baby Duck Costume

This is a great idea for both toddlers and pre-school children. It's quick, very simple to make and looks adorable when done. What more could you want in a kid's Halloween costume? Here's what you need to gather up:

1 yellow sweat suit with a hood
1 yellow feather boa (you can usually find these in novelty stores)
1 pair of yellow boots
1 pair of yellow stretch gloves
1 duck bill (that can be tied on behind the head)
Matching yellow thread

• Cut two lengths of the feather boa to fit along the outer sleeves of the sweat suit top/jacket and tack this on with the thread.
• Add a small tuft of feathers to the point of the hood. Tie on the beak, put on the gloves and boots, pull up the hood and - voila - a delightful baby duck is born.
• If you like, you can also turn this costume into a chicken. Just use white or cream colored clothing and feathers.

Ketchup and Mustard Costume

What a neat getup for twins! To make this easy costume you will need to measure your child from shoulder to ankle and then double this number. This is your length. Then measure across the shoulders for the width. Once you have these numbers gather up or purchase the following materials:

1 piece of felt in the length and width measured - either red or yellow
1 felt square in the same color (for the "squeeze top" hat)
1 knit hat to match
1 pair of stretch gloves to match
1 sweat suit or pants and shirt in red or yellow
Some black felt for lettering
Large lettering stencils if needed
Fabric Glue
24 inch length of red or yellow ribbon (for side ties)
Red or yellow thread

• If you haven't done so already, measure out the length and width determined earlier on the large felt piece and cut to size. Fold in half and cut a hole at the top for the head to fit through.
• Cut four pieces of ribbon about 6 inches long each and sew two ties on each side of the felt to hold the front and back pieces together.
Cut out the word(s) KETCHUP and/or MUSTARD from black felt and glue lengthwise down the front of the felt.
• Take the small felt square and roll it into a cone. Glue to secure the seam together and trim edges to make a circular opening at the bottom. Carefully tack the wide end of the cone to the top of the knit hat with thread. If necessary, you may wish to add a bit of stuffing into the cone before sewing to give it some stability.
• Have your child dress in his matching outfit and you're done!

Itsy Bitsy Spider Costume

This is another costume that is sure to be a hit with younger children. All it takes is some black felt, black socks, black stretch gloves and a bit of time.

1 large piece of black felt
4 long black socks
6 black stretch gloves (3 pair)
Black sweat suit or clothing
1 black knit hat
Bag of polyester stuffing
Black ribbon to use as side ties
Black thread
Black shoes or boots

• Measure your child across the shoulders to get the width that you'll need and add 6 inches. Measure from knees to shoulders and double this for the length. Cut the felt to this size and fold in half.
• On the folded edge, find the middle and measure out the width of the shoulders from the center point. Make two marks on the felt to indicate where each shoulder ends. Measure out the same distance along the bottom (open) edge as well.
• With scissors, starting at the folded edge at one shoulder mark, cut through both layers of material creating an oval shape and ending at the marked point at the bottom edge. Do the same on the other side.
• Cut a hole in the center fold for the head opening and sew on some ribbon ties along the sides to hold the front and back panels together.
• Stuff the 4 black socks and 4 of the gloves with stuffing. Slide a portion of one glove over the toe end of one sock and tack in place. Do the same with the other 3 socks and gloves.
• Along the back of the black sweatshirt sew on the four legs - two for each side.
• Have your child put on their sweat suit, the felt spider costume, the last pair of black gloves on their hands, and the shoes. Tuck long hair up into the felt hat and you have an Itsy Bitsy Spider.

All these projects shouldn't take more than an hour or two to put together. As you can see, not only will your child have a great Halloween costume that you've help them make, they're much more cost effective than purchasing one. After the holiday is over just remove any items that were tact onto the clothing and your child will still have usable outfits to wear for winter.Making homemade Halloween costumes for your kids doesn't need to be time consuming, difficult or expensive. Give it a try. More importantly... you are making wonderful memories with your child for the future.

About The Author

Rose Smith owns Halloween Howl, a site that offers great ideas on adult and children's halloween costumes, how to plan your haunted party, decorating ideas for this ghostly night and a lot of other fun stuff for Halloween lovers of all ages.