Tips and ideas on making children’s Halloween costumes

Children enjoy getting dressed up and going trick-or-treating. If they need a spooky Halloween costume at the last minute, there are various homemade costumes that you can quickly put together. In this guide, we will show you various ideas for making some last-minute Halloween costumes for children. In addition, there are also step-by-step instructions on how to make your own homemade face paint for children, which will add the finishing spooky touches to their fantastic costume.  

Fortunately, there are some great last-minute costumes that you can easily put together if you don’t have a lot of time. They are easy to make and you do not need to buy any expensive costumes or even use a sewing machine.

Here are a few tried and tested very quick examples of what you could make:

• A ghost costume made out of an old bed sheet is an absolute classic Halloween costume. You can easily put this simple costume together within a couple of minutes, by simply making two holes in a bed sheet for two eyes, then some face paint and another two holes for the arms.

• For a skeleton costume simply turn an old black t-shirt inside out and get some black leggings. Use some white fabric paint to paint some arms, legs and rib bones onto the costume. This can be done in no time at all and no artistic skills are needed.

• A mummy costume can be simply made out of any old linen bed sheets or tablecloths. Cut the fabric into 10 to 20 cm wide strips and then wrap your child carefully and loosely in them.

Below you will find three ideas for more complex Halloween costumes for children. They are guaranteed to look great and stand out at any Halloween party.

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Don't forget...

Make sure that the costumes aren’t too tight and the hems aren’t too low for toddlers as they could end up tripping over them. It is best to choose costumes in which they will still be able to move about in and does not cover their face. Capes are always a good option, for example, for a vampire, wizard or bat costume.

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Now all you need are few accessories to give the finishing touches to your costume, which you can buy in a costume shop or make or sew yourself:

• Long cape for example, made from black fabric with patches or some shiny fabric/velvet

• Witch’s hat made from paper or felt

• Magic wand – for example, a small stick or made from a thin paper roll

• Large broomstick – can normally be found in a DIY-store

Your witch costume is now all done! In case you don’t have a lot of time, you can simply use a black or dark blue fleece blanket, which can be used as a magician’s cape. If your child would like to wear some face paint, you can simply paint a spider web onto their cheek or you could paint their face to look like a witch.

This costume allows you to get creative so that you can create a fun pirate look. Great accessories including an eye patch, a cardboard sabre or a soft toy parrot and some face paint for stubble or a scar are a great way to finish off the costume.

You can paint a grinning pumpkin face expression on the t-shirt with black fabric paint or sew it on with some spare black fabric. Additionally, you can also add a collar to the t-shirt made of green felt to give the pumpkin a green stem.

For babies and young children, a sewn or knitted pumpkin hat in bright orange with a green stem is a fantastic accessory for a pumpkin costume. This will also keep their head nice and warm at the same time.

Tip: Most children love to dress up and take on different roles. However, some children do not want to wear a costume or face paint. Children can still have fun and enjoy Halloween, even if they don’t like dressing up or wearing face paint.

• Baby lotion

• Starch for white face paint

• Activated charcoal for black face paint, for example, charcoal tablets from a chemist

• Organic food colouring for bright coloured face paint

How to make your own white face paint for children:

1. Mix 1 tbsp baby lotion with 1 tsp of starch in a small container.

2. Then melt the ingredients in a bowl, which is sitting in warm water or you can put it in the microwave on a medium heat.

3. Stir the thick mixture until it becomes smooth and then let it cool before applying.

How to make your own black face paint for children:

1. Grind 1 to 2 charcoal tablets until it becomes a fine powder. This can be done by using a mortar or a coffee grinder.

2. Warm up the baby lotion.

3. Add the ground-activated charcoal and stir until it has dissolved and the face paint is dark enough.

How to make bright coloured face paint for children:

Melt some baby lotion as described above, stir until smooth and then add a few drops of food colouring.

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Bear in mind that...

Although the ingredients in the homemade face paint for children are free of harmful substances allergic reactions to individual ingredients can still not be completely ruled out. Therefore, you should first test the face paint on the crook of your child's arm and have a look after a few hours.

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As shown above, spooky children’s Halloween costumes don't have to be expensive or complicated. Many homemade Halloween costumes for children can be made from simple everyday items of clothing and then finished off with a couple of accessories and some spooky face paint. This way, you are guaranteed to create a very spooky and unique looking costume. Older children can even help to make the costume and then proudly present it once it is finished.

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https://www.scratchsleeves.co.uk/blog/seasonal-childhood-baby-eczema/eczema-halloween-homemade-face-paint-recipe/

(accessed on 26.07.2022)

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