Halloween costumes do not have to be expensive or complicated to make a big impression. These DIY Halloween costumes for kids turn simple household and recycled materials into fun nature-inspired looks, from colorful butterflies and dragonflies to playful squirrels and snails.
How To Craft Six Enchanted Forest Halloween Costumes for Kids
For the young and the young at heart, autumn means trick-or-treat fever and the frenzy of choosing a ‘just right’ disguise. Keep the fun in the Halloween hustle by wowing your neighborhood with DIY tributes to nature. Coordinate young kids into jolly duos and trios with easy-to-build costumes that clear out the recycling bin and instill a maker’s pride in everyone that helped, including the costume wearer.
The trick (or treat) to big impact with minimal stress? Focus your effort on one statement element, such as a headpiece or some wings. Ground it with a special occasion outfit. Your trick-or-treater probably already has one tucked in the back of their closet.
The Dragonfly
“Stained glass” cardboard wings are the standout of this aerial insect. A hot water heater box finds new life carved into symmetrical wings then detailed with precision knife cutouts throughout. The insect’s abdomen is a series of cardboard strips rolled into cylinders and stacked, then painted with green watercolor. Bright leggings and a cap with wire and tulle antennae transform your candy seeker into a darting, hovering Odonata.
The Monarch Butterfly
Like the dragonfly, the butterfly’s wings are its identity. Wing-cut cardboard, painted and stenciled in the monarch’s telltale pattern, gets your ghoul 90 percent of the way there. Clothing hanger wire laced between the corrugation lets the wings bend into “in flight” shapes. Bungee cord or ribbon straps create an easy, over-the-shoulder metamorphosis.
Pair with wire and tulle antennae and a little black dress or long johns.
The Caterpillar
Stellar origami skills? Nope. Turning a kid into a caterpillar merely calls for the folding of brown butcher paper creased every foot, then stapled or sewn into place. Roll the folded sheet lengthwise into a tube and stuff with additional paper, cinching and sealing the bottom end. Top your tube with a cardboard vest (one rectangle, two arm holes) so that the wearer can slip in and out of character and tote that tail house to house. Painted stripes of black, white, and yellow from tail to top bring the character to life. Mind the curb while inching through the neighborhood!
The Toadstool
If you’ve never attempted papier-mâché, now is your moment. This three-ingredient costume is your number one go-to this season. Using a large plastic bowl or punching balloon as the form, cover half the sphere with overlapped 1 inch x 3 inch paper bag strips dipped in a mixture of Elmer’s glue and water.
When the paper has dried to shape, carefully separate sculpture from form to reveal the standalone cap to your mushroom. Ribbon or tulle punched and knotted through a bowl-sized cardboard ring then hot glued inside the cap makes a gentle resting place for your trick-or-treater’s head and stylishly secures the headpiece around the chin.
An accordion fold of white paper creates the mushroom’s underbelly gills. A red-and-white polka dot paint job seals the deal. Grab a white gauze dress or white long johns from the cupboard. This adorable fungus is ready to pound the pavement.
The Squirrel
Even for the novice seamstress, a plump squirrel tail requires just three pieces of furry fabric – two “S” shapes sewn back-to-back and one triangle providing a little dimension at the tail base. Turn fur right side out and stuff with poly-fiber fill, then pin or stitch the three-dimensional tail to a favorite brown polka dot skirt, smock, or dress, or a pair of corduroys.
Fur scraps make sweet ears once attached to a headband and your trick-or-treater is ready for gathering more compliments than acorns.
The Snail
The garden snail is a twenty-minute assembly made of Amazon paper packaging that’s twisted, rolled, and fashioned into a sort of ribbon-strap backpack. Two protruding eyes are made of the same material and given structure with wrapped wire secured to a headband. Tiny oxfords or Chuck Taylors and a coffee-colored linen dress or T-shirt and khakis make this ensemble and its wearer look so sweet.
Need help shopping for materials? Check out our guide to shopping around Pittsburgh that includes information like where to find kid’s clothing in the city. Or find more fun Halloween ideas like Pittsburgh events, kid-friendly recipes, and so much more in our guide to Halloween.
Story and Costumes by Leah Hohman Esser
Photography by Katie Long
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