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I don’t know about you, but Halloween sneaks up on me every single year. To be fair, we’re not big Halloween people over here, but I do love a good, themed family Halloween costume and getting to see and spend a fun time with all of our neighbors and their kids.
Last year, I shared our family’s Halloween costumes, which to be fair, we actually did two years in a row because it was easy and our oldest was thrilled at the idea of dressing up in his costume again.
There are lots of reasons to think about doing family Halloween costumes – picking one theme can make planning easier, there are SO many great DIY family Halloween costume ideas, and let’s be honest – they make for REALLY great photo opps that you will love looking back on!
If you are thinking about dressing the family in matching themed costumes, here are my best tips for successfully pulling off family Halloween costumes – especially if you have young children this year. Plus some inspiration to get your creative wheels turning!
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Tips for Successful Family Halloween Costumes
Choose costumes that are easy to recognize.
Easy to recognize can be subjective here. Mostly – easy for your kids to recognize and be excited about – but it doesn’t hurt if it’s easily recognizable by the neighbors, too.
Kids will get excited when someone recognizes their costumes and comment on it!
If you’re looking for character specific costumes, start brainstorming characters from your family’s favorite books or movies, television shows, games, etc.
– mainly for our kids so they enjoy it, but it’s fun when the neighbors recognize it too.
Or choose a common theme for your costumes.
Maybe you don’t want to dress up like characters. A common theme will work just as well. Pick a theme and have everyone dress as a part of the whole.
Some ideas might be your favorite desserts – think milk and cookies, ice cream cone and different toppings. Or you could be different versions of the same thing – robots, super heroes (Like this simple DIY Iron Man costume), crayons or art supplies, zoo animals, and the list really can go on and on.
Choosing a common theme is a great way to do “family costumes” but without having to stick strictly to one set of characters.
Family Halloween costumes should be EASY to make (or buy).
DIY costumes are my favorite because they are unique and custom. But they can get pretty tedious if you aren’t careful. If we’re doing DIY family Halloween costumes, I like to be sure we can complete the look easily with minimal sewing, or with clothes, and accessories we already own. You can also make really fun DIY costumes with cardboard boxes!
If DIY isn’t your thing, you’ll want to look for costumes that are easy to buy in lots of sizes – which means you’re probably going to need to stick with whatever is popular this year.
Whatever you choose – make sure you can pull it off easily, because as fun as getting dressed up as a family can be, it is NOT worth lots of stress.
Costumes should be COMFORTABLE to wear.
This is ESPECIALLY true when kids are involved. No one wants to spend time or money making a costume that your kid refuses to wear. As much fun as it is to laugh at the Halloween photos where kids are visibly not happy in their costumes, it’s way more fun for everyone involved if costumes are fun and comfortable to wear.
Our boys wear their M&M t-shirts for weeks after Halloween because they enjoy them so much.
This is why my preference for DIY costumes is almost always something that can be created from a solid color tee or pajamas for kids.
Family Halloween Costume Ideas
Admittedly, we haven’t been doing family costumes for very long around here. Our oldest will be 4 this fall. We all but skipped Halloween when he was a tiny baby. We did 3/4 of the ninja turtles when he was 1 and then M&M’s for years 2 and 3. And we haven’t decided on this year’s costumes yet!
BUT, if you are looking for some great group or family costume ideas that are great for families with young kids, I’ve rounded up several below for some inspiration!
Ocean Buddies Sibling Costumes (Great for a simple theme that you can DIY without choosing specific characters).
DIY Cow Costumes (would be PERFECT for a farm theme…and also for Chick-Fil-A’s cow appreciation day. You know I am ALL about multi-purpose over here!)
Disney Family Costumes (Fun ideas from Toy Story, Peter Pan, Frozen, and Wreck it Ralph!)
M & M Candy Family Costumes (Our costumes 2 years running)
PIN THIS:
I love the M&M costumes!! How fun!
Thanks so much! We loved them too – two years in a row!
Such great tips and I love the roundup of ideas you put together! Thanks for including me!
Love these ideas! I think I might actually be able to convince my husband to wear some of these 🤣.