By now, the school year is in full swing and the weeks are flying by. We’re already one week into October, which means Halloween is just around the corner! If you haven’t had time to buy or make the perfect costumes for your little ones, have no fear. We’ve scoured the internet to find the coolest DIY costumes (as well as treats and crafts) that kids will love and, best of all, can be made quickly, affordably, and easily.
Easy DIY Costumes for Every Age Group
For babies: We love tropical fruit here at the Nanny Authority, so this adorable pineapple costume from Lines Across is a must-make for us. All you’ll need is a sleeveless yellow onesie (or a white onesie and yellow dye), white or brown felt, scissors, a glue gun or Liquid Stitch, green felt, elastic, and a cereal box or other thin cardboard.
If you’re interested in matching your little one, check out this great adult-sized pineapple costume!
In keeping with the food-costume theme, we also love this baby pancake costume from Two Twenty One. It starts with a plain white onesie, and only requires fleece, felt, cardboard, ribbon, a marker, and a hot glue gun. No sewing necessary!
For toddlers or preschoolers: We think this Pillowcase Pumpkin from Martha Stewart is perfect for toddlers and preschoolers. It’s a little more hands-on than the pineapple, but the directions are easy to follow and it even includes a video tutorial.
The best part about this DIY idea is the opportunity it provides for the children to help out and customize their own costumes. The tutorial includes stem hat and pumpkin face templates for you to use, but why not give the kids a creative project and have them draw their own jack-o-lantern faces? If you have multiple children, this is a great way to do matching costumes with relatively little effort. Dress yourself as a scarecrow, and you can trick-or-treat with your own personal pumpkin patch!
For grade-schoolers: You can’t beat the classic Mummy costume. Almost everyone has an old white sheet lying around, and school-aged kids love to dress up as something scary for Halloween. We like this tutorial from Nellie Bellie.
For artsy grade-schoolers or preteens, we also love this Paintbrush and Palette costume from Dukes and Duchesses. All you need to make the costume is solid-colored clothing for your child to wear (we recommend black or brown), poster board, silver spray paint, a strong-bristled broom or two, Styrofoam disk, hot glue gun, a large foam board, and colored paint. Your child can paint his or her own palette while you put the paintbrush bristles together.
This costume would also be easy to make into an adult and infant pair costume—just wear white with splotches of different colors to be the palette, and make an infant-sized paintbrush hat for the baby.
Our Favorite DIY Treats and Crafts
For parents who are looking to hit the happy-medium between healthy and sugary this Halloween, consider Scarecrow Crunch! It’s a great party snack, and if you’re bringing it to a classroom, the peanut butter can be easily replaced with almond or cashew butter. If you’re feeling extra fancy, you can hand out single servings in these easy-to-assemble pumpkin treat bags.
We also like these “Boo-Nana” Pops—a spooky take on a frozen chocolate banana. All you need are bananas, white chocolate to melt (or yogurt and 1-2 cups of powdered sugar, for a healthier option), mini chocolate chips, and a freezer. In a few hours, you’ll have a delicious ghost invasion that can only be solved by hungry kids.
As for crafts, if the kids are still small, try these great no-carve pumpkin crafts or this cute handprint witch. If they’re a little older, this glow-in-the-dark “Terror-arium” is fun, easy to customize, and will keep them occupied for most of the afternoon.
Do these DIYs sound like too much trouble after an already hectic week? Nanny services can help:
If you’re a stay-at-home parent and you can find the time, making Halloween costumes, snacks, and crafts together is a great way to bond with your children and keep them busy for a few hours in the afternoon. However, if you’re a working parent, we know how much of a struggle it can be to go to work all day, come home, make dinner, clean the house, and get yourself and your kids prepared for trick-or-treating and classroom parties. It may be beneficial to make use of part- or full-time nanny services to help your family get ready for the holiday. A nanny can engage the children with all kinds of DIY crafts and snacks, or distract one child while you make costumes with another—or even just pick up the supplies while she’s out with the kids during the day so they’re there when you get home. Remember, Halloween doesn’t have to be stressful for you—it can just be fun!
For more great costume ideas, treats, healthy snacks for classroom parties, decorations, and crafts, check out our Halloween Pinterest page!