From dressing up and getting the sugar high of the century to seeing pumpkin and ghost paraphernalia everywhere, it’s hard not to enjoy the excitement most kiddos feel when Halloween rolls around! Parents love this spooky holiday, too, but the dreaded costume selection situation has gotten somewhat out of hand. Every store begins decorating with Halloween décor in August, and kids will change their minds no less than a dozen times about what they want to be. You’ll wonder if creativity is such a good thing, from a princess to a kitty cat to a ballerina zombie, and where your child has been getting all these “great ideas” from. But whether you want a cute, spooky, fun, DIY, or original costume for your little guy or ghoul, we have the ticket for Halloween costumes for babies, toddlers, and kids!
Halloween Costumes for Babies
Your baby won’t really remember what you dressed them up as for Halloween, but that doesn’t mean you can’t do something cute and creative! Here are some ideas for baby costumes:
1. Harry Potter
Here’s a super recognizable costume that will keep baby warm on Halloween night! For this look, your little one will need Harry Potter’s rounded black glasses, a black cardigan, a white onesie, and black pants. See this DIY post to learn how to create the red and gold scarf and the rest of this fantastic costume!
2. Elderly Person
These elderly person costumes for babies are so cute. Their pants already come up to their little chests anyway! For the old lady costume, put baby in a floral dress or onesie, her favorite cardigan, and knee socks or leg warmers. Then, glue cotton balls on an old cap for hair and add baby glasses. For the old man costume, add “wrinkle” lines with eyeliner, tuck their best dress shirt in, and add a necktie. Bonus points for fake reading glasses and wigs!
3. Anything With a Headband
If your child can leave a headband alone long enough for some solid pictures, that’s all you need! Pair cat ears with a matching onesie to turn them into an adorable cat. Or have them wear little red horns with a red onesie — but you know the only thing devilish here is how cute your baby is!
4. Rosie the Riveter
Grab the teensiest chambray top and red bandana you can find for this Halloween costume for babies. Then, add a “Rosie” nametag to complete the look. Just like that, your little gal will motivate the masses (to give YOU all the candy!) and look Halloween-ready.
5. Condiments
Here’s a simple Halloween costume that only requires one piece of clothing. With this handmade onesie, you can dress your baby as a tasty condiment for under $30. This condiment costume comes in short- and long-sleeved options, and you can choose from the yellow mustard, sweet relish, and tomato ketchup designs.
6. Ghost
Babies will love this super soft Halloween costume! You’ll need some white fleece, black felt, fabric glue, and sewing scissors for the ghost poncho. See this DIY post for all the steps on creating this no-sew poncho for your baby. Add a white, long-sleeved onesie underneath, and they’ll be all dressed up for Halloween!
7. Cloud
Here’s another no-sew costume you can create yourself. This fluffy cloud costume requires white and pink felt, fake eyelashes, black puffy paint, and polyester fiberfill for stuffing. (Check out this DIY post for all the materials and steps.) Underneath the costume, dress your baby in something comfortable they can wear even after Halloween, like a fluffy hooded jumpsuit or a onesie with a warm hat and soft booties.
8. Lamb
This DIY Halloween lamb costume is easy to assemble, especially if you like sewing. You need some cotton balls (which you might already have handy), a white short-sleeved onesie, a white beanie, and black and white fleece to make the lamb outfit. Add a black long-sleeved shirt and leggings underneath, and you have a cute baby lamb!
9. Cotton Candy
Your baby will look simply scrumptious in this cotton candy costume! For pink cotton candy, you could dress them in a pink onesie and headband. And they could wear a light blue onesie and white leggings for blue cotton candy. Get polyester batting or cotton balls and spray paint them pink or blue to match your baby’s outfit. Then, attach the “cotton candy” to your baby’s clothes using a hot glue gun.
10. Gumball Machine
This DIY gumball machine costume for babies is very easy to make for Halloween. Buy a pack of colorful pom poms and glue them all over a baby pilot cap to look like bright, yummy gumballs. Use some gray and black felt to create the “25 cents” sign, attach it to a red long-sleeved onesie, then add black leggings.
11. The President and Secret Service
We love this idea since babywearing is so awesome! For this funny costume, your baby will need a white dress shirt, a necktie, and their best suit. You can turn a cardboard box into a podium by decorating it with a presidential seal and attaching it to your baby carrier. Then, mom and dad can dress up as the Secret Service with dark sunglasses and earbuds as earpieces.
12. Bank Robbers and Money Bag
You can easily turn your baby and carrier into a money bag for this Halloween costume! Just get some play money and a money bag prop, then dress baby in a black onesie. To match, mom and dad can wear black clothing, such as black gloves and a black beanie.
13. Bee Keeper and Bumblebee
How cute are these costumes?! Get a black onesie and a bumblebee hat for your baby bee. Attach some striped bee fabric to your baby carrier and put a pair of tiny, white mesh wings in the center. Then, mom or dad can dress up as a beekeeper! This beekeeper hat from Amazon is pretty inexpensive and comes with mini bees to stick all over your hat.
Halloween Costumes for Toddlers
Toddlers will probably want more of a say in their Halloween costume, but if you need some inspo, look no further! Here are some creative DIY costumes for your toddler:
1. Bubblegum Machine
Kids love bubblegum, so the DIY Halloween gumball costume is also super cute for toddlers! They can wear a red dress or a red shirt and shorts combo. Just like the baby version, you’ll need multicolored pom poms. Glue them in a circle on the dress for the gumballs, then use some felt to create the gumball dispenser.
2. French Toast
Combine a black-and-white striped shirt, black pants, and a beret (or a hat easily donned to the side) for this DIY Halloween costume for toddlers. Using cardboard, cut out and design a large square to loop with twine or ribbon around their neck (safely, of course!) to represent toast. Adorable and clever!
3. A Character from “Inside Out”
Aside from being an incredible movie, Pixar’s “Inside Out” has gifted us easy Halloween costumes that are perfect for toddlers. They can dress as Joy, Fear, Anger, Disgust, or Sadness, as pictured above. Or they might even dress as one of the new emotions from “Inside Out 2,” like Anxiety or Envy! Depending on which emotion your child wants to be, grab a colored wig and face paint and find appropriately matched clothing with colors already present in their closet.
4. Ace Ventura: Pet Detective
Not only is this a hilarious movie, but costume renditions of it are priceless. For Ace Ventura’s undercover look, grab a pink tutu and a Hawaiian shirt online or from your local thrift store. Then spike your toddler’s hair like crazy with hair gel to complete the costume — pure Halloween gold.
5. Breakfast at Tiffany’s
If your little one likes old movies (or adores fancy clothing), they’ll have fun dressing up as Audrey Hepburn’s character in “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” — Holly Golightly. You need a fancy black dress, matching shoes, a costume necklace, a tiara, and black sunglasses. A Tiffany’s shopping bag is the final touch — they can use it to carry their Halloween candy. (Just make sure to skip Audrey’s long cigarette for this costume!)
6. Where’s Waldo
Do you like to crochet? If so, this Where’s Waldo costume is a great DIY option for your toddler this Halloween! This post explains how to create Waldo’s iconic striped hat. Pair that with a long-sleeved, red-and-white striped shirt, round black glasses, and blue jeans for the complete look!
7. If You Give a Mouse a Cookie
Here’s an easy Halloween costume for toddlers that doesn’t require many materials. All you need to recreate this beloved children’s book character are a pair of overalls, a long-sleeved white shirt, mouse ears, and black eyeliner to draw on the mouse’s nose and whiskers. Check out this post to learn how to make a cookie trick-or-treat bag that goes with this adorable costume!
8. Rocket
If you’re feeling creative, why not make a rocket Halloween costume for your toddler? You can use the picture above for inspiration! You’ll need craft materials such as white poster board, red cardstock, and silver duct tape for the rocket base. Then, add red, orange, and yellow tissue paper as fire to make it look like the rocket is blasting into the heavens. Don’t forget to add shiny, colorful star stickers!
9. Garden Gnome
This DIY gnome costume is a cute Halloween option for toddlers. You’ll need to construct the hat, beard, and tunic, and your little one can wear a white shirt, black pants, and boots underneath. This post explains how to put this costume together. Your gnome will be guarding your garden and stealing your heart in no time flat!
10. A League of Their Own
Fans of this classic baseball movie can dress their little ones in this costume. This Halloween costume is a cute replica of Dottie’s outfit for toddlers. Or, if you want to make the costume yourself, there are several options on Etsy for Rockford Peaches patches, such as this set, which comes with iron-on patches. Add those to a red baseball cap and a peach dress, then finish off the look with red socks and black shoes.
11. The Man With the Yellow Hat
If your toddler likes Curious George, they will love this Halloween costume! Dress them up as George’s guardian, the Man With the Yellow Hat. You’ll need to find a yellow shirt, yellow pants, a black belt, brown boots, a yellow dotted tie, and, of course, a yellow hat! (See this helpful blog post for all the details.) Finally, get a soft Curious George plush for your little one to carry around on Halloween (and after).
Halloween Costumes for Kids
Finally, check out these clever Halloween costumes for older children, including sweet and funny options:
1. Weather Forecaster Caught in a Storm
For this Halloween costume, pair your kid’s khakis and a collared shirt with a tie thrown over their shoulder. Add some crazy hair, an inside-out umbrella, and debris glued or taped to their pants leg, and you, my friend, have a little storm chaser. Plus, you can dress up as a storm cloud to join the fun!
2. Captain Underpants
Have your kids got some tighty-whities? Then they’ve got half of this Captain Underpants costume already! Grab a red cape, a skin-toned shirt, and matching shorts or pants (to go under the underwear), and your little cutie pie will be ready to take on a night of trick-or-treating.
3. Grapes
While your children might not be excited to eat their fruits, they’ll probably think it’s fun to dress up like them! Grab a dozen or so purple balloons to attach to your child any way you like. Goodness grapeness, your kids have got one adorably easy Halloween costume!
4. Mummy
Have your child wear black pants and a black top, and then have fun wrapping them in toilet paper a few times. Bonus points for adding a bit of face paint to make them look a little less green around the gills! This one might suit your kiddo who is dying to wear a scary costume, but you can’t allow yourself to buy them a horrid mask and plastic weapon combo yet — after all, you’re still their mummy!
5. Sundae
Kids will love dressing up as a delicious ice cream sundae! Find clothing that’s the color of their favorite flavor, such as a pink dress for strawberry ice cream or light green pajamas for mint chocolate chip ice cream. Cut out “sprinkles” of different sizes and colors using felt fabric sheets and glue them to your kids’ clothing. You can use white netted tulle for whipped cream, then get a styrofoam ball and paint it red for the cherry on top.
6. Milkshake
Here’s another costume that looks like a sweet treat! For the milkshake cup, you’ll need colorful poster boards, poly-fil, a hot glue gun, thick ribbons, and Velcro. You also need white duct tape and a red pool noodle for the straw, as well as red cardstock, red felt, and a sturdy hair clip for the cherry. (This DIY post has all the steps for this Halloween costume.) Kids can wear white clothing underneath, such as a long-sleeved white shirt and white leggings.
7. Bank Robber
The bank robber Halloween costume is also a fun choice for older kids. They’ll need a striped shirt, black leggings, a black hat, a mask, and shoes. Add a money bag, and their look is complete! Bonus: They can even use the money bag as their trick-or-treating sack!
8. Jellyfish
This jellyfish costume is a super creative concept that your kiddo will love! Get a clear umbrella and glue large googly eyes on the front. Then, attach long strands of ribbon around the inside of the umbrella. Jellyfish come in many hues, so your kid has multiple color options for the ribbons, such as white, blue, purple, pink, and orange. Ensure their outfit matches the ribbon color, and they’ll be all set!
9. Hip-Hopper
This one is an excellent costume for music lovers! And it only requires a few materials, many of which you may already own — a cardboard box, a ruler, hot glue, paint, cardstock, and double-sided tape. (For more details, check out this DIY post.) Kids will have fun creating their personalized boombox, which they can then use for collecting candy on Halloween!
10. Flamingo
This bright, eye-catching flamingo costume requires lots of pink items! Have your kid wear all pink, such as a pink shirt, pink leggings, pink sneakers, etc. Then, wrap several pink costume boas around your kid’s outfit like flamingo feathers. For the flamingo’s face, use a plain glove as your base. Attach more pink feathers, a felt beak, and googly eyes. Voilà!
11. Bubble Bath
Isn’t this DIY Halloween costume the cutest thing for kids? It’s also easy for parents to put together! You’ll need materials like light-colored latex balloons (think colors like white, light blue, clear, etc.) and a yellow rubber duck. Kids can wear white clothing underneath, like a white long-sleeved shirt and pants. For all the costume steps, check out this post.
12. Disco Ball
Your kid will shine as bright as a disco ball in this DIY Halloween costume! For all the steps and materials, check out this costume post. Kids can pair the disco ball with comfy tights, a white tank top, and white sunglasses. They could also wear sparkly tights like these ones. Either way, they’ll undoubtedly be the life of the party!
Tips for Budget Halloween Costumes
Remember: cardboard boxes, face paint, eyeliner, and a wig are your best friends! Having one or two of those items can help you turn your little goblin’s Halloween into one your family won’t forget.
Repurposing old costumes into new ones (if they still fit) may also help you save money while letting your child dress up as something new. For instance, if your little girl has a dress from an old princess costume, you could buy an inexpensive pair of wings and turn it into a fairy costume!
You can also go to thrift stores in your area to find cheap clothing items for DIY costumes. Plus, check out the clearance section of your local craft store to see if any materials on sale spark some costume inspiration.
Whatever cute and fun costume your child chooses this Halloween, we know they’ll look adorable! Have you created other easy, DIY, or original Halloween costumes for babies, toddlers, or kids? Let us know!
