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.
Jack Sparrow was played by the lead actor in the movie, Johnny Depp. The first of the series was Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl in 2003, and has been followed by two sequels, Dead Man's Chest (2006) and At World's End (2007).
