Photo by: iStock

Clever Family Halloween Costumes

Photo by: iStock



Every October, about two to three weeks before Halloween, you can practically hear the mad scramble of parents putting together costumes for themselves and their children. It’s a fun time of year, no doubt, and the Internet promises a cornucopia of ideas. Today we’re throwing out an assortment of clever and inventive group costume options that the whole family can get in on! Whether you’re keeping it simple this year or pulling out all the stops, consider one of the below ideas.


NASA Stars + Rocket Ships
Three, two, one… blast off! This Halloween costume is not only clever, it puts science in the limelight and can be downright educational. The idea comes from Smarties via their #LittleSmarties campaign, which champions “smarties” throughout history, and encourages intellectual curiosity at every age.

“We loved working with eight, amazing bloggers and seeing what they came up with,” Jessica Dee Sawyer, co-president, told Mamapedia. “Each of these individual costumes can easily provide the foundation for a terrific family costume. For example, two children can recreate the Neil Armstrong and Sally Ride costumes, and the parents can dress as rocket ships or as NASA employees.” The supply list and how-to can be found on the website.


Amelia Earheart + Clouds
Another option from the same campaign is to dress your little one(s) as Amelia Earheart — or even the Wright Brothers. “Add a cloud and an airplane costume to the Amelia Earhart look, and it’s perfect for a group,” said Sawyer. If your child is in a stroller, you could spiff it up to look like an airplane, which would be a hit at any party, festival, or parade!


A Family of Monsters
Monsters will never be out of style during the month of October, and a tribe of googly-eyed creatures definitely makes for a very fun photo opp. To prevent things from getting too scary, we recommend keeping the monsters kid-friendly and approachable. Michael’s, the craft store, suggested getting the family set up with a set of colorful T-shirts, and then applying varied sizes of googly eyes all over! You can also try dressing up as a set of characters from favorite monster movies or shows, such as Monsters, Inc., The Addams Family, or Frankenstein!


Cat in the Hat Theme
It doesn’t matter how old you are — everyone loves a little Dr. Seuss! For this costume, we suggest having the following costumes represented however they make the most sense for your family: Cat in the Hat, Thing 1, Thing 2, and a goldfish. A child in a stroller could be the perfect goldfish, especially if you dress up the stroller as a fish bowl. If you have two kids, dress them as Thing 1 and Thing 2, then make the parents The Cat in the Hat and a goldfish. You have so many options with this one!


Foodie Costumes
Here’s a great one for a family of foodies! Dress your little one as a famous food star, such as the iconic Julia Child, Alton Brown or Gordon Ramsay. “We love the idea of creating a cupcake and butter costume to accompany Julia Child said Sawyer. Parents could also dress as silverware, as sous chefs, or even a bag of flour. If you want to go more generic with the food theme, have the parents dress up as chefs and the baby as a lobster or cupcake!



Wendy Rose Gould is a writer based in Phoenix, Arizona. She covers women’s lifestyle topics for numerous digital publications, including InStyle, xoVain, Refinery29, Revelist, PopSugar and ModCloth. You can follow her on Twitter and Instagram or at WendyGould.com

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