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.
For those of you who 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.
COSTUMES FROM BLACK CLOTHES
- Artist: 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: Add some black ears to a hoodie or a headband, paint your nose black 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. Accessories could include vampire teeth and sunglasses.
- Skunk: Paint a white stripe down the back of your black clothes and add ears like the cat. Accessories could include flowers.
- Scuba Diver: Paint two two-liter bottles bright colors, glue them together and strap them to your back. Wear a scuba mask for the full effect.
- Spy: Accessorize with a trench coat and a fedora.
- Ninja: Tie a black scarf around your face. Accessories could include ninja gear: Nunchuks or a staff (trying to think of the least violent)
COSTUMES FROM RED CLOTHES
- Waldo: Paint horizontal strips on shirt and wear a red and white pom-pom hat. Pop lenses out of a pair of sunglasses.
- Mario: Add a red hat and blue suspenders.
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
- Robin Hood
COSTUMES TO MAKE WITH A TUTU
COSTUMES FROM YELLOW CLOTHES
COSTUMES FROM THE DRESS UP BOX
- Mary Poppins: Use a coat, a hat, a scarf, magic bag, umbrella, and lace-up shoes.
- Old Man: 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. Braid hair and add add freckles to your cheeks.
- Clown: 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
• Farmer
• Hobo
• Scarecrow
3 more ideas for finding COSTUMES
Minneapolis Toy Library
October is a great month to join the Minneapolis Toy Library because they have plenty of costumes in their pretend-play section that members can borrow.
Merrill Arts Center Big Backstage Garage Sale
The Dorothy K. Merrill Fine Arts Center, 380 Rivertown Drive, Suite 200, Woodbury, MN
Find costumes and other pieces from Merrill Arts Center annual garage sale. October 6-8, 2022; 10am-2pm.
Little Adventures Dress Up
Little Adventures Dress Up is one of our affiliates. I’ve ordered a few of these outfits for my kids because they are of decent enough quality to allow them to wear to school.
This article contains affiliate links to products from Little Adventures & Fun.com. Family Fun Twin Cities receives a commission for products sold through our site.