GET CREATIVE, GET MAKING: Halloween Costume Ideas 2015

Just to make sure there is no misunderstanding from this post– I LOVE THE SUMMER. (I love all seasons except spring when my allergies play havoc on any fun opportunity that might present itself). So when I begin to talk about Halloween and the Fall, I don’t want you to click away because you liken me to those folks who want to rush away our last week or so of summer. I’m the one who will be out in my shorts and T-shirts and enjoying those late evening strolls, but during these walks I’ve started to bring up a conversation with my eldest – What do you want to be for Halloween?

SEE ALSO: Top Ten Items for a Dressing Up Box

My goal this year is to ‘make’ the costumes as opposed to ‘buying’ them, and that needs time. Time to incubate ideas, time to plan, time to prototype, and time to make – think about all the creative thinking and problem-solving opportunities that will manifest over the next couple of months. Searching for Halloween Consume Ideas should begin with this type of question, but research can benefit from visits to sites like Pinterest, where lots of parents and educators share their creative ideas for Halloween.

Halloween Costume Ideas 2015: My wife deserves all the credit. She researched the idea of a plane and made it. We noticed Lucas had difficulty climbing stairs and turning around in tight corners, but it certainly got all the attention from fellow parents!

Last year I wrote about the many Ana and Elsa’s who we encountered while Trick or Treating. They were all very cute – but the same cute. All the costumes had been purchased from the same store and I felt this took away any opportunity for originality or creativity. I began to wonder if the quality of a costume can impact a child’s fun and/or belief in their character. As I reflected on this question I recalled my own experience at a fancy Lord of the Rings birthday party on top of a hotel in London. Some of my college friends had rented their costumes from high end wardrobe departments like the BBC – I had made my costume from scrap. Yes, I had to answer the ‘who am I’ question a little more than my friends, but I felt just as much an Aragon, Legolas, or Hobbit character than anyone else in the room.

This is a little pile of ‘rubbish’ that I’ve begun to collect in preparation for Halloween. The challenge will be hiding it from my wife who might ‘mistaken’ it as garbage. It’s always sensible to have an arsenal of items for the costume.

So if time allows (which I appreciate is the greatest battle) join me this Halloween in ‘making’ a costume. I’ll be documenting our efforts on Instagram, and while the challenge of making a Wild Kratt, with Frog creature powers is intimidating, it’s a lot better than last years Fire Breathing Skelton Dinosaur request.

Characters from Never Never Land: Last year we had to creatively steer Lucas away from his Fire Breathing Skelton Dinosaur idea, and to a more family friendly, and doable in short-time frame. I was a Lost Boy – can’t you tell?

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Matthew Worwood

Matthew Worwood is an educator, Creative Studies scholar-practitioner, and co-host of the Fueling Creativity in Education podcast. He is a professor of Digital Media Design at the University of Connecticut and a husband and proud father to three young boys.