Halloween is right around the corner, and if your kids are like mine, they have been talking about their Halloween costumes since April. If your kids haven’t been talking about their costumes, count your blessings. It’s extremely tricky to encourage creativity and ingenuity all the while keeping it real in your own head.
This is where costume swaps become a busy parent’s blessing. You can clean out your costume box and find new costumes for the whole family in one afternoon. Best of all these events are FREE.
2026 Costume Swaps
More ideas for finding Costumes
Minnesota Toy Library
October is a great month to join the Minnesota Toy Library because they have plenty of costumes in their pretend-play section that members can borrow. The best part — no storage necessary! Return the costume after Halloween and swap it out for some travel toys for Thanksgiving (or whatever other toys catch their fancy).
Easy DIY Halloween Costumes Straight from Your Closet
For those of you who have waited until the last minute and aren’t ready for Halloween, I have a guide to easy and fantastic costumes with things from your closet/dress-up bin. It may take a quick trip to Goodwill, but honestly, if you can’t make it out, your kiddo will have an incredible costume.
If you have one of these items in your closet, you can make a menagerie of Halloween costumes. My personal favorites are characters from children’s literature, but there are plenty of other choices.
COSTUME IDEAS WITH BLACK CLOTHES
- Artist: Â Add a beret and a black mustache. Accessories could include a paint brush or paint palette.
- Mime:  Paint your face white and wear white gloves.  Accessories could include a pair of red suspenders and an expressive face
- Cat: Â Add some black ears to a hoodie or a headband, pair with black pants or skirt, paint your nose black with costume makeup and add some whiskers on your cheeks. Accessories could include a collar or mittens for paws.
- Bat: Make ears like the cat ears and drape yourself in a black blanket. Â Accessories could include vampire teeth and sunglasses.
- Ninja: Tie a black scarf around your face. Accessories could include ninja gear: Nunchuks or a staff (trying to think of the least violent)
- Scuba Diver: Paint two two-liter bottles bright colors, glue them together and strap them to your back. Â Wear a scuba mask for the full effect.
- Skeleton: Dress in black from hat to feet and use white fabric paint or white tape to create the skeleton.
- Skunk: Paint a white stripe down the back of your black clothes and add ears like the cat. Â Accessories could include flowers
- Spy: Black pants and turtleneck. Can be accessorized with a trench coat and a fedora.
HALLOWEEN COSTUME IDEAS FROM RED CLOTHES
- Waldo: Paint horizontal strips on shirt and wear a red and white pom-pom hat. Â Pop lenses out of a pair of sunglasses.
- Mario: Â Add a red hat and denim suspenders.
- Clown: A red polka dot shirt makes a really cute clown dress on a little one. Here is another place where make up goes a long way.
- LadyBug: Any red and black polka dot item makes a great start for a ladybug!
DIY HALLOWEEN COSTUMES FROM GREEN CLOTHES
- The Jolly Green Giant: Dress in all green and add a green beanie.
- Luigi: Add a green hat and blue suspenders.
- Peter Pan: Green shirt, pants or tights paired with a brown belt & boots.
- Robin Hood: Interestingly, Robin Hood & Peter Pan wear basically the same costume. They only difference is the height of the boots.
COSTUMES FROM YELLOW CLOTHES
- The Man in the Yellow Hat – Yellow from head to toe. The hat may be the hardest part!
- Minion – A yellow hat and shirt paired with jean overalls and oversized glasses makes a great minion costume.
- Princess Daisy. A yellow dress with red accessories.
- Belle – A yellow dress from mom or even a t-shirt from dad can be a ballgown on a little girl. Add a red rose and a book, and you’ve got a beauty.
COSTUMES TO MAKE WITH BLUE CLOTHES
- Rosie the Riveter. Blue jeans and a denim top or a denim jump suit will both work when paired with a red handkerchief tied on the head.
- Alice in Wonderland. A blue dress with a white apron and tights is all you need.
COSTUMES TO MAKE WITH A TUTU
COSTUMES FROM THE DRESS UP BOX
- Mary Poppins:Â Use a coat, a hat, a scarf, magic bag, umbrella, and lace-up shoes.
- Old Man:Â Use a cane, a gray paper mustache, old hat, cane/walker/crutch and old shoes.
- Pippi Longstocking: Wear black man shoes, mismatched socks and clothes. Â Braid hair and add add freckles to your cheeks.
- Clown:Â Anything can be used as clown clothes. Just add a red nose and red cheeks. Accessorize with giant shoes.
HALLOWEEN COSTUMES FROM A CARDBOARD BOX
HALLOWEEN COSTUMES FROM A PLAID SHIRT
• Cowboy. Add a cowboy hat and handkerchief.
• Farmer. Add jeans or overalls.
• Hobo. Tie a handkerchief to the end of a stick.
• Scarecrow. Top it off with a straw hat.
Don’t have a plaid shirt? Any button up or even a t-shirt can work for most of these. We pulled off cowboy with a flower t-shirt and a tie.
These are ideas that have worked for the FFTC families over the years, but we would love to hear yours. Leave us a comment and tell us about great costume ideas, costume swaps we’ve missed or even your favorite thrift store for costume shopping!