Costume Craze

Still don’t
know what your little one is going to be for Halloween? We’ve rounded up some
great online resources to help you with ideas–whether you’re the type to whip
something up yourself or more inclined to browse online and buy the perfect
costume. But hurry, Halloween is right around the corner! —

Make It

Gather some
items around the house, or make a quick visit to a craft or art supply store
for some fabric and other items to get started.

Creative
costumes using items from your kitchen and garage are highly recommended by Parents.com. Gather some
clothespins and paint pasta a metallic gold to help make a crown and outfit for a king and queen costume, or get
some cardboard boxes, duct and electrical tape and oatmeal canisters to make a choo-choo train! Other great ideas
include a moose (get some kitchen gloves to
make antlers), or rolling dice (all you need is cardboard, fabric and glue).

A great
website for parents, Babble offers some cute ideas for
homemade kids’ costumes. How about a paper doll, Alice in Wonderland or Medusa for your little girl? For your
boy, try a lion, a sock monkey or even the Mad Hatter! There are versatile unisex costume ideas as well. Dress them up as cotton candy, a sandwich, a hot air balloon or Oscar the Grouch!

From
original ideas for girls and boys (we loved the bubble bath and a bag of groceries costumes) to
scary ideas (mummies, witches glow-in-the-dark skeletons and
more), Disney’s Family Fun magazine’s website is a must if you’re looking for something unusual
that you can create from scratch. They also have ideas specifically for
toddlers and teens.

Looking for
a unique costume idea? Crafts.Kaboose.com has some great
categories to choose from. How about something food-related like a chili-pepper,
mustard or bunch of grapes? Or maybe you want a costume that takes you back in time like a colonial boy,
‘50s girl or southern belle? For a safe bet, kids always love animal and insect costumes.

Who knows
how to make a Halloween costume better than Martha Stewart? MarthaStewart.com has ideas for
the most detailed homemade costumes, from a mademoiselle butterfly with
hand-stitched felt wings to a Manhattan skyscraper with
cardboard spires. There’s even a section where Martha recommends kids make their own superhero or owl costumes.

Buy It

From scary
costumes like pumpkin heads, skeletons and vampires to character costumes from High School Musical and The Backyardigans, SpiritHalloween.com offers a
variety of costumes to choose from.

If you want
to browse by category, ToysRUs.com has some great
costume and accessory selections for both boys and girls. There are Movie and TV character costumes
from Star Wars, Toy Story, Sesame Street, Thomas the Tank Engine and Smurfs
as well as a section devoted entirely to Ballerinas & Dance. There’s
a section on superheroes as well as fantasy costumes like an ice
cream sandwich or French fries. Parents can also search by age range.

In addition
to character costumes for boys and girls, we like that halloweencostumes4kids.com offers a baby & toddler section, as
well as a critter section with some unusual
animal and other “thing” costumes, including an elf, a Dalmatian, a green M&M
and more.

Does your
child know what he wants to be but there’s something about the specific costume that you don’t like? Justkidcostumes.com offers a wide
variety of costumes within a specific category, so you’ll have a variety to choose
from. Browse through creative costumes from the ’50s, ’60s, ’70s and ‘80s, choose from angel costumes, astronaut costumes and more. There’s also a section on costumes for other
holiday celebrations, including Santa suits, Pilgrim and turkey suits, and
more.

If you have
a few kids in different age groups to shop for, Walmart.com might be your best
bet. The site has costumes to order that are organized by age group (babies,
toddlers, kids, teens). We loved some unusual character costumes like Yoda for toddlers, Super Mario Brothers for kids or
the Crayola Crayon for teens. You can
also shop the site by characters and themes if you have something in mind. Or
buy accessories like wigs and masks.

For other great Halloween costume ideas,
check out our Pumpkins On Parade tip sheet for a look at what Chasing Fireflies
and State News have to offer!