Halloween is one of my kids’ favorite events of the year, even though they have tons of candy left over that they never even eat. I think it’s just the fun of dressing up and going house to house. They usually start talking about what they are going to dress up as months and months before. It’s great to plan ahead, but sometimes you just don’t have time. And sometimes, your kids’ ideas of costumes sound a little too complicated.
No matter what your plans are for Halloween this year, I’m here to give you some quick and easy costume ideas that can possibly save you time and money, and maybe even talk your child out of dressing up as something that you can’t quite pull off.
- Witch. A witch is one of the easiest costumes to pull off. All you need is black clothing, a witch’s hat, and some green face paint. Because October weather in Knoxville is hard to predict, you can wear short sleeves, long sleeves, shorts, pants, or even a skirt as long as it’s black. The green face paint is optional too; it just adds a nice touch, if you have time. You can also add a broom as a prop.
- Unicorn. A unicorn might require a little bit more, although some kids may already have some of the items for dress up purposes. Your child can wear white clothing, a bright, colorful tutu, and a unicorn headband. Target has unicorn headbands for as little as $2. You can add fairy wings from the Dollar Tree and you can also add glitter makeup, if you have it.
- Cat. For a cat, your child needs to wear all black. You will also need a cat ear headband, and then you can draw whiskers on your child’s face with black eyeliner or black face paint. You can add a tail, but you don’t have to. Sometimes you can find a cat costume kit that comes with ears and a tail, but you can totally pull off this costume without a tail. You can also add a black tutu if you have one.
- Cheerleader. If you are a sports fan, especially a Tennessee Vols football fan, chances are your daughter has a cheerleader outfit. All you need is the outfit and some orange and white shakers. This is perhaps one of the easiest costumes for a young girl in Knoxville!
- Princess. Many young girls, especially Disney fans, are already likely to have princess costumes for dress up. Why not use one for Halloween? In the past, my daughter has dressed up as Tinkerbell and Jasmine. She already had the costumes, but we just added a few accessories. For Tinkerbell, we got some fairy wings at the Dollar Tree for $1. For Jasmine, I splurged and bought her the wig, but I knew she would just add it to her dress up collection to use again.
- Pirate. For a pirate, you just need a white shirt, black pants or jeans, an eye patch, and a bandana. You can tie the bandana around your child’s head, which means you will not need a pirate hat. You can also buy a short strip of red fabric to tie around the waist as a belt. If your child has a toy sword, you can use that as a prop.
- Athlete. If your child plays a sport, you can quickly dress him or her up as an athlete by using his or her uniform or sports equipment. Or, if you are a sports fan and your child has any type of jersey, you can use that as a costume. Soccer players and baseball players tend to be pretty easy to dress up as, if you have the equipment. If you have an old uniform, you can cut it up and dress up as a zombie athlete. This will require white and black face paint and possibly fake blood, but older kids might have fun with that.
- Vampire. This is another costume that requires wearing all black. All you need to add is vampire teeth (which you can buy in a pack of 6 for $1 at Target), white face paint, and some fake blood. You will likely need to add a cape, which I have found for as low as $8.90 on Amazon.
- Superhero. Some kids may already have superhero costumes, pajamas, or shirts. These can easily be used as last minute Halloween costumes. One year, my son had a Batman pajama shirt with a velcro cape. He wore it with a pair of black pants and a Batman mask. I did have to buy the mask, but it was only $4.99 from Party City. Your child could also wear a Superman shirt with jeans and a red cape.
- Ninja. A ninja is yet another costume that requires wearing all black. You can add some red fabric to tie around the arms, legs, and waist. Your child can wear a black fabric face mask or gaiter, and a black hoodie with the hood pulled up. If your child has a toy sword, you can use that as a prop.
I hope that you have found these ideas helpful. As always, you can buy costume packs, but I have found that it is often more cost efficient to use items that you already have and just buy a few accessories to add to the costumes to make them stand out.
