Children’s Halloween Costume Ideas

Children love to dress up for Halloween. Below is a dozen of the most popular children's Halloween costume ideas for 2009, drawing from favorite and much loved books and movies.

Each of the children's costume ideas is representative of a costume theme inspired by an iconic and well known movie, TV series, show or book, and in most cases there are many variations of costumes available within the theme. Most of the categories include costumes for both boys and girls. Click on the links under the images to see a wider selection of costumes in each of the 12 categories.

Harry Potter costumes are still one of the most popular costume themes. Most of the leading characters in the enormously popular Harry Potter books are represented in the costumes that are available, not just the costume for Harry Potter himself. The Hogwarts school and House of Gryffindor uniforms are available for both boys and girls, including female characters like Hermione. There are outfits for Quidditch, Dementers, Deather Eaters, Hedwig, Slytherin, Voldemort and more - most of the characters that might appeal to your favorite child.

Barbie costumes, on the other hand, are pretty much limited to the girls, but they come in a wide variety. Whether your little girl prefers to be a mermaid, princess, genie, sports girl or fairy tale character, there is most likely a variation of Barbie costume that she will love.

Bright and colorful Power Rangers costumes continue to be high on the list of preferences, and not just for boys - there is a pink variation available to appeal to the girls as well.

Wizard of Oz costumes continue to stand the test of time, especially the Dorothy costume. However, there are also appealing costumes for Tinman, Lion, Scarecrow and other characters from this evergreen story, suitable for both girls and boys.

Needless to say, pirate costumes for both boys and girls have seen a resurgence in popularity inspired by the recent series of Pirates of the Caribbean movies. There is a wide range available, including leading characters from the movies, such as Jack Sparrow and Elizabeth.

Bugs and spider themes remain very popular, and come in many forms.

Transformers are another children's costume theme inspired by the movies. Optimus Prime and Bumblebee are among the most popular characters for dressing up as a colorful transformer.

No list of popular children's fancy dress costumes would be complete without including Disney characters.  Hannah Montana, Buzz Lightyear and Woody from Toy Story, Tinkerbell, Cinderella, Sir Peter from Narnia, Ariel and many more well known and loved characters are popular kid's Halloween costume selections today.

Starwars and Startrek continue to gain new fans from new generations, and there is a wide range of popular characters represented in the lists of costumes available for both of these space exploration themes, for both boys and girls. I love the cute Yoda costume you can get for toddlers!

Batman, Batgirl, Robin and The Joker costumes rank high in the popularity stakes this year, inspired by the success of the Batman movies.

Finally, most parents eventually tell their kids they are "little monkeys" at some time of mischief or another, so why not choose a monkey suit for them? They are very cuddly, cute and popular costumes, especially with younger children.

Harry Potter

Kids Costumes

Barbie
Kids Costumes

Power Rangers

Kids Costumes

Lil' Bug
Kids Costumes

Pirate
Kids Costumes

Wizard of Oz
Kids Costumes

Transformers

Kids Costumes

Disney
Kids Costumes

Star Wars
Kids Costumes

Batman
Kids Costumes

Star Trek
Kids Costumes

Monkey
Kids Costumes

Top 10 Most Popular Costumes Year Round

What are the most popular costumes for dressing up in fancy dress year round?

If you want to buy a Halloween costume that will serve other purposes year round then you might consider the most popular 10 costumes from one of the bigger costume suppliers on the right.

Halloween parties and dressing up for trick or treating used to be limited to witches, ghosts, vampires and other assorted zombies and ghouls. These days the socially acceptable themes for costumes extend much further - in fact, anything goes! You don't need to feel restricted.

So why not be practical and economical for these recessionary times, and choose a costume you can use several times through the year?

Does it really matter if you show up at a Halloween party as the Easter Bunny, or as Uncle Sam?

You will see on the right there is the inevitable Santa Claus costume, usually the most popular costume at Christmas time. Variations of the Santa suit for children, and angels costumes, are also popular at Christmas.

From Easter there is the Easter Bunny costume. Apart from eggs and chickens, there isn't a lot else to choose from at Easter, I guess - unless you head off down the religious costume path, which is another option at Easter but perhaps not at Halloween.

Uncle Sam features, and is a year round favorite, especially around July 4 Independence Day celebrations.

For the ladies, acting out the Statue of Liberty is a similar theme to follow.

The Irish get a look in from Saint Patrick's Day celebrations, with a Lucky Charm outfit in green.

Thanksgiving follows not long after Halloween, and a Pilgrim or Colonial costume may serve both events.

Have you ever considered dressing up the whole family as Pilgrims or Colonials when celebrating Thanksgiving Dinner? That can be a fun idea, and educational for the family too.

The Mardi Gras theme is ever popular as a costume theme, and as an excuse for a costume party year round, not just at Mardi Gras time.

So what will it be?

A new costume especially for Halloween, or save by buying a costume that could be worn to several costume parties or events through the year?

Pumpkin Faces For Halloween Pumpkin Decoration

Pumpkin Faces

Pumpkin Faces

Painting pumpkin faces as Halloween pumpkin decoration is a popular Halloween craft activity for kids at Halloween time. And it is so easy to do with great results.

Pumpkin carving to create Jack o' Lantern designs requires you to use a sharp knife to cut through the hard pumpkin skin, and the whole pumpkin has to be cut open and emptied. For small children pumpkin carving can be somewhat risky, and needs close adult supervision. As a craft project at school, at home or at a Halloween party, pumpkin painting to create pumpkin faces is a safer kid's craft activity project. Personally, I think it is a lot more fun, and there are many more creative ways you can paint a pumpkin face than just cutting out yet another ghoulish and toothy Jack o' Lantern grin.

Pumpkin painting is not hard, but it helps to have some great designs to work off, and to know how to prepare the pumpkin, what paints to use and the best tools to get outstanding results. Make a good enough job, and you could even sell your pumpkin face creations at Fall craft fairs for your family or as a community fund raiser.

For full expert tips on painting pumpkin faces click here.

Halloween Decorating Ideas For Parties

Halloween party decorations for the table are a good starting point for Halloween decorating ideas, but your Halloween party decor can extend on to much more dramatic ideas with a far greater impact.

Hanging Halloween themed balloons and pinatas and similar accessories around the room is a popular first step to decorating a Halloween party venue. There are many props, small and large, you can buy to add to the decor - from spiders and spider webs through to giant mummies and inflatable Halloween props.

A great tip is to simply hang a few harmless threads from your ceiling, which invariably produce a few surprised shrieks from your guests when they unexpectedly feel them in their face in a darkened room.

A clever and relatively low cost way to transform your party room is to use wall hangings that come in rolls to create a totally different visual impact in the room. Nightmare on Elm Street, graveyard scenes and ghostly images are among the options you can consider. Cloth covers for furniture can turn your sofa into an open coffin, and you can turn your door into the entry to a Gothic Castle with images on a paper roll. In no time your home can be transformed into another world!

Lighting is an important way to create a scary mood for your Halloween party. Just dimming the lights and using candles is a good start, and there are a variety of Halloween themed lamps that you can obtain from pumpkins through to skulls. Adding a strobe light, or a black light that make certain colors glow in the dark, adds yet another dimension to your party atmosphere.

Fog and bubble generators are a popular way to recreate the images we often associate with horror movies and graveyard scenes, and it is so easy to obtain and set these up for a reasonable price these days. You can set them up to hide the machines by creating Halloween displays that seep out the eerie fog into the room, like an evil looking toxic waste drum. They take your Halloween party decor to a much more unique and memorable level.

You might like to look at what your guests will see outside as they arrive at your party. Some bales of hay and pumpkins is the traditional Halloween party doorway decoration, and it still works very well, especially if you carve a few pumpkins into Jack-o'-Lanterns to light up the path to your door. A scarecrow or some other ghoulish figure is a popular addition. You can go a step further and install a graveyard in your front lawn, with tombstones, escaping zombies and other such outdoor Halloween yard decorations now readily available.

A background of Halloween music and sound effects mustn't be overlooked at your Halloween party. Whatever is the current dance craze where you live is fine, but at some stage every self respecting Halloween party just has to groove for a while to the Monster Mash.

If your television stays in the party room, or you want to entertain the folk who are not dancing, why not play some Halloween DVDs?

Here is a selection of some of the Halloween decorating ideas and accessories you can get for your Halloween party this year:

Special Effects

Halloween Decor

Tabletop

Halloween Decor

Halloween

Scene Setters

Lawn and Yard

Halloween Decor

Tombstone

Halloween Props

Photo Props

Halloween Decor

Decorative

Halloween Lighting

Halloween Themed

Door and Wall Decor

Inflatable and Airblown

Halloween Decor

Halloween Balloons

and Accessories

Halloween Pinatas

and Accessories

Halloween

Music and DVDs

Halloween Party Decorations For The Table

Halloween party decorations create the atmosphere of Halloween party and put your guests in the right mood for Halloween fun as soon as they arrive. It helps if you start off with Halloween theme invitations so your guests know what to expect, and to follow through with Halloween decorations in the party venue. Especially for children, the center of attention at any party is almost always the food, and you can quickly set a Halloween theme for the party just by decorating your table with themed items. A table cloth and table napkins in a Halloween theme soon set the scene for the whole party room.

Add matching disposable plates and cups and you are well on your way to arranging your party decorations for Halloween.

Here is an example of the table decorations items you can choose:


Halloween Party Additional Guest

Halloween Party Deluxe Party Kit

Gruesome Halloween Party Invitations (8 count)

Halloween Party 9 oz. Paper Cups (25 count)

Halloween Party Lunch Napkins (50 count)

Halloween Party 7" Dessert Plates (25 count)

Halloween Party 9" Dinner Plates (25 count)

Halloween Party Plastic Tablecover

It's a great idea to add a Halloween pumpkin as a table centerpiece, and to spread around some large plastic spiders and other scary and ghoulish things among the serving plates on the table as well.

Halloween Costume Coupon Code


10% off $65 or more
Buy Costumes is offering a 10% reduction on purchases over $65 until October 31st.

Use the coupon code: haunt65

Join with your family or friends to ensure your order is large enough, and enjoy the savings - but remember to be quick as the offer does expire at the end of October.

Check out .