Halloween costumes for kids: ten you can make at home in an evening

A Halloween costume for a child can be made at home in an evening with things you already have: a sheet becomes a ghost, black clothes and a hairband become a cat, gauze bandage becomes a mummy, white tape on black clothes becomes a skeleton. What takes time is not the sewing but the decision, so let your child choose from the list below in the afternoon and start after dinner.

The 30th of October, half past six in the evening, in a kitchen on Kungsholmen. The förskola (municipal preschool, from age one) has its Halloween party tomorrow, the five-year-old has decided to be a skeleton and you have no costume, no sewing machine and a shop that closes in half an hour. It can be solved, and the result is often better than anything you can buy. Here are ten costumes our nannies have made with the families' children, sorted by how long they take.

Ten costumes, from ten minutes to a whole evening

Costume	Time	Materials	Suitable from
Ghost	10 minutes	An old white sheet, scissors	Age 3, under 3 means tripping
Cat	15 minutes	Black clothes, hairband, black paper or felt, a pair of tights for the tail	Age 1
Pumpkin	15 minutes	Orange top, black fabric or felt for the face, green hat	Age 1
Mummy	20 minutes	White clothes, gauze bandage or strips torn from a sheet, safety pins	Age 4
Skeleton	30 minutes	Black clothes, white tape or white fabric, glue or needle	Age 3
Bat	30 minutes	Black clothes, black fabric between sleeve and side, ears on a hairband	Age 2
Witch or wizard	30 minutes	Black dress or cloak, hat made of black paper, a stick	Age 3
Spider	45 minutes	Black clothes, four socks stuffed with newspaper as extra legs, string	Age 4
Vampire	45 minutes	White shirt, black cape made of fabric or a bin bag, face paint	Age 5
Zombie	An evening	Old clothes that can be ripped, tea or coffee for staining, face paint	Age 6

The five quickest, step by step

1. Ghost. Drape the sheet over your child, mark where the eyes fall with a pen, take it off and cut two holes. Trim the bottom edge so your child doesn't step on it. A ribbon around the waist keeps it in place.
2. Cat. Black clothes. Two triangles of black paper or felt taped onto a hairband. A tail made from a leg of black tights stuffed with newspaper, fastened to the waistband with a safety pin. Nose and whiskers in face paint.
3. Pumpkin. Orange top or dress. Cut eyes, nose and mouth from black felt or paper and attach with double-sided tape or a few stitches. A green hat as the stalk.
4. Mummy. White clothes underneath. Wrap gauze bandage or strips of an old sheet around arms, legs and body, not too tightly, and fasten with safety pins at the back. Leave the face free, or wrap around the forehead and chin.
5. Skeleton. Black clothes. Cut bones from white tape or white fabric: ribs on the top, long bones on the trousers, hand bones on black gloves. Tape can be removed afterwards, fabric is glued or sewn.

What suits which age?

• 1 to 2 years: cat, pumpkin, bat. Built on ordinary clothes, nothing over the face, nothing loose around the neck, nothing trailing. Your child should be able to eat, run and fall asleep in it.
• 3 to 4 years: ghost, skeleton, witch, mummy. Your child can help cut and choose. No masks, most children that age are frightened by their own reflection.
• 5 to 7 years: vampire, spider, skeleton with face paint. Your child does a lot themselves and has opinions about the details.
• 8 to 12 years: zombie and everything else. Your child does more or less all of it, you hold the scissors and say no to fake blood on the sofa.

Safety nobody thinks about until afterwards

Costumes that trail on the ground cause falls on stairs and dark streets. Anything around the neck should pull off easily, no cords. Masks block vision, so face paint is better, and it should be made for skin, not felt-tip pens or whatever is in the craft cupboard. Test the paint on the arm the day before if your child has sensitive skin. Candles in pumpkins are open flames, and a fluttering sheet near them is a bad combination. Reflectors on the costume if you are going out in the dark: it looks a bit dull and it saves lives.

The costume that works at förskola

The förskola Halloween party is often an ordinary day in costume, and then your child needs to be able to play outside, eat lunch and nap in it. Build the costume on ordinary clothes: a top with appliqués, ears on a hairband, a tail in the waistband. Nothing that needs holding, nothing that breaks in the sandpit. Ask the förskola what the rules are; many don't want masks, weapons or anything too scary because the youngest children get frightened. Pack a change of clothes for the days when the costume becomes a burden by ten o'clock.

The evening before: how to get it done

1. Show your child the list in the afternoon and let them choose, from options you can approve of.
2. Gather all the materials before you start, so you are not hunting for tape halfway through.
3. Put newspaper or a cloth on the table, because paint and glue end up everywhere.
4. Let your child do whatever they can: cut, tape, choose, try on.
5. Try the costume on when it is finished and let your child run around in it. Whatever comes loose now will come loose at the party.
6. Put everything on a chair in the hallway, with the face paint next to it, and the morning will be calm.
7. Keep the ghost as a backup. There is always a sheet.

And if it didn't turn out like the picture: never mind. Children don't judge costumes by the stitching but by whether they got to help. A wonky cat whose ears the child cut out themselves beats a bought outfit every time. See our guides to Halloween crafts for kids and Face painting for kids if you want to make more of the evening.

How we do it with our families

Doaa was with a family in Sundbyberg the afternoon before the förskola Halloween party last year, with a four-year-old who wanted to be a bat and a two-year-old who didn't want to be anything at all. The four-year-old got to cut wings from an old black pillowcase that Doaa pinned between the sleeve and the side of his top, and ears of black paper on a hairband. The two-year-old got an orange top with a felt mouth, as a pumpkin, without anyone asking. The note said the costumes were on the chair in the hallway, that the wings were fastened with safety pins that should be checked in the morning, and that the two-year-old liked the pumpkin when she saw herself in the mirror.

Read more: Halloween crafts for kids · Halloween games for kids · Face painting for kids · FAQ

Frequently asked questions

Which costume is easiest to make at home?

The ghost: an old white sheet with two holes for the eyes, and done. Next easiest are the cat and the mummy, which only need black clothes and a roll of gauze bandage respectively. All three take under half an hour and cost nothing if you have the things at home.

What suits a two-year-old?

Something that doesn't frighten the child themselves: a pumpkin in an orange top, a cat with ears on a hairband, or a little bat with wings of black fabric. No mask, no face paint near the eyes and nothing loose around the neck. A two-year-old should be able to run, eat and fall asleep in the costume.

How do we make a costume our child can wear at förskola all day?

Build it on ordinary clothes: a top with appliqués, a pair of ears on a hairband, a tail fastened in the waistband. Nothing trailing, nothing too tight, nothing that needs holding. Ask the förskola what the rules are; many don't want masks or weapons.

Do we need face paint?

No, but it lifts most costumes. Use skin-friendly paint made for faces, not felt-tip pens, and test on the arm the day before if your child has sensitive skin. See our guide to face painting for kids for simple designs that take five minutes.

What do we do if our child changes their mind the evening before?

It happens every year. Have a backup costume that takes five minutes: the ghost or the cat. And say in the afternoon that what has been decided stands, so your child knows there is no switching at eight in the evening. Children who get to choose for themselves from the start change their minds less often.