It's Carnival time! Are you ready for the music, fun and, of course, the long-awaited parades and fancy dress parties?
Here at Hotels VIVA we're going to give you some ideas for some timeless children's carnival costumes that you can easily make in an afternoon.
And the best thing of all? You can use it as a great family activity and make them together, adapting them to your children's tastes, and adding the most original accessories.
You don't have to spend a lot of money to come up with a great original costume; you just need to invest a little time and do some recycling in the process.
DIY Carnival costumes for kids: Make them yourself!
Homemade superhero costume
Children love to imitate their favourite characters from books, films, and video games, and who wouldn't like to be a superhero or superheroine for a day?
Making this kind of costume is very easy. You just need some comfortable clothes and some fabric loops to make a cape.
You can make a mask (if you want) with some craft foam and an elastic band.
Complete the costume with some cleaning gloves in the same colour as the cape and some logos indicating what your children's super powers are.
Homemade pilot costume
This is one of the most original and timeless carnival costumes for children.
The most "difficult" part may be to make the plane's wings, but it's easier than it looks. Just get a cardboard box, open it out, draw the wings, and then cut them out (you'll find lots of tutorials online).
After that, you should glue two rolls of toilet paper to the end of each of the wings and, in the centre, attach two strings so that the design can be carried as if it were a rucksack.
As a finishing touch, make a large pair of glasses, attach them to a headband and put them on a winter hat.
You’ll be in with a great chance of winning the costume contest!
Homemade pirate costume
One of the most popular carnival costumes for boys and girls is a pirate costume, as you can use clothes that your child will probably already have in their wardrobe (black, red, or striped clothes, a bandana, etc.).
You just need to add a hat, a patch, and paint on a moustache and you're nearly ready to go.
You can add extras such as a sword or even a stuffed parrot!
If you want your child to have the coolest pirate costume of all, then why not make a small ship with a cardboard box, a stick, and some strips of paper or cloth for flags?
And, for a great finishing touch, you could make a small "treasure chest" and fill it with chocolate coins.
Homemade diver’s costume
This costume is recommended for children from 7-8 years of age, and can be a lot of fun.
You'll need black clothes (trousers and a jumper), a pair of goggles and a snorkel, two empty plastic water or soft drink bottles, yellow paint, and insulating tape.
The bottles, when painted yellow, will be the oxygen cylinders. Tape them together and glue them to the jumper.
If you want, you can also make the bottles into a rucksack by adding some cords.
Other accessories you can use for this costume are some foam or cardboard fins that you can attach to the top of your shoes.
Your children will now be ready to conquer the oceans!
Homemade gumball machine costume
To dress your child up as a gumball machine, all you need to do is dress them in red or blue and make them a hat out of coloured pompoms (you can take one of their regular hats and then sew on some pompoms made of wool or coloured cotton wool).
Then, on a white card, draw a circle and write the price of the bubble gum (£1) in the centre with a felt-tip pen and stick it on a onesie or T-shirt.
This costume is simple and comfortable, and is especially suitable for babies and toddlers.
Tips for making Carnival costumes for boys and girls
Nowadays you can make your own Carnival costumes for children by taking inspiration from films or books or looking for online tutorials.
The three main guidelines to keep in mind are:
- Children's costumes should be comfortable.
- Children's costumes shouldn't have buttons.
- Children's costumes shouldn't have small parts that children could choke on.
Regarding the material you may need to make them, these are the most common:
- Used clothes
- Kitchen utensils
- Scraps of cloth and ribbons
- Cardboard
- Markers and paints
- Empty bottles
- Craft foam
- Insulating tape
- Thread
- Wool
We hope these tips have been useful for you!
Have a VIVA Carnival!
