Halloween Help

I recently saw a neat idea, take a white t-shirt, pinch and gather portions of the tee and rubber band 1 or 2 inches from the point of pinch all over shirt including sleeves. Dye shirt in orange dye. Rinse thorughly, take off rubber bands, dry shirt. Once dry insert a piece of cardboard inside the shirt then use a permanenet marker and draw pumpkin faces in the circles. Wear with a long sleeve black shirt. If he helps with this project he may be more apt to wearing it. Using this as a costume he has no face paint, or anything else to worry about? Good luck! Debbie

One year my son was a scarecrow, I bought a longsleve
t-shirt that was to big and cut the sleves in strips about two inches up from the wrist, and bought some rope looking ribbon for a belt. he had a pair of sweatpants, and I glued buttons and fabric patches on both the pants and shirt. I also made loops of yellow yarn that I sewed on to the bottom of the sweatpants to make it look like straw.

Honestly I wouldn't push it with him. Just let him know he'll most likely be the only one at that party without a costume. If that is what he wants let him make that decision It is his choice to make. Kids have to learn what exactly their own decisions mean at some point don't they? Best of luck to you.

I never like dressing up and neither does one of my three children. Let the peer pressure at school take care of this one. I had my son simply wear a baseball cap and when asked he said he was a State fan. I wouldn't fret over this one.

I wouldn't pressure him into anything. You will just make it worse for the following years to come. Being a teacher in the past I am sure there will be other kids not dressed up due to religion issues or $$$. I am actually surprised schools are still dressing the kids up. Most have done away with it. If YOU are set on doing something start now with mentioning maybe Farmer (kid name) or cowboy (name) and just use jeans and plaid shirt with a cowboy hat or bandanna. He can leave the hat in his bag if he decides he still doesn't want to participate. Good luck.

C., Does your husband wear a suit and tie? What ever his dad wears to work, have your son wear! Would he be a builder, or plumber? x tras are simple! Keep it simple hon! Kath

Buy him an orange sweatshirt with a pumpkin face on it and get some orange sweatpants and call him a pumpkin...I saw some boys that age wearing that at the apple orchard over the weekend....then he wont realize he is even wearing a costume.

don't make him dress up but just send it with him in his bag to school and if he feels left out he can put it on. Or don't send it and if he feels left out next year you probably won't have an issue.

I think at least two of my kids were like this for years. My 10 year old wore a costume for the first time last year. My daughter has insisted on wearing the same costume 3 years running now, but she would wear nothing before she found this one. The only person this ever bothered was me. I always was self conscious as a parent because my kids proudly marched in their school's Halloween parade dressed as thmselves. The only ones. I have no idea why they were so against dressing up, but what a silly thing to make a fuss about. I am glad that they have no problem being the only person doing something different than everyone else. That is not an easy trait to have, so if your child is daring to be different, embrace that quality. It is much easier to do what everyone else is doing. It should make for a fabulous and strong adult someday.

Good morning C.,

Just a suggestion regarding a costume for school. Maybe something along the lines of a constructor worker. Work boots and a work belt. Something simple that way if your son is in the mood to participate he will only have to put the belt back on. The work boots will come in hand for outdoor play as well.

Best of luck!
P.

I'm also really surprised they are letting kids dress up at school. I would double check to make sure there aren't any rules for what a child can wear. It looks like you have a bunch of ideas. you could also ask your son if he wants to pick his own outfit out. good luck with him:)

I like the army guy idea. :o) What about something with a hat and simple clothing like a cowboy, firefighter, or policeman? Or you could just make him something, like a car out of a box that he could wear with suspenders, but wear regular clothes anyways? Then he has a choice to wear it or not.

How silly to have so much pressure at this age to conform!

If he has any sports or superhero garb, that should be plenty. You could put black under his eyes for football and lightning bolts, a spider web or something else that goes with the superhero shirt. My 4 yr old grandson has cowboy, spiderman, and football stuff.

It kind of sounds like you are the one worried about him being the only one not in costume, not him. I have a 3 yo and a 5 yo and I have found that they are not as concerned with what everyone thinks as adults are and you shouldnt make him feel self conscious about something so small. Simply let him know that all the others will be in costume and see whathe says. If he still does not want to let it go. If you are still concerned about it put a costume in his bag (or if you will be there take it with you) and if then he decides he wants it put it on him. But really I do not believe that you should make it do it at all. The more you push the bigger this is going to get. Remember pick your battles..this is one you have to let him win on!

C.,
When my oldest was in Kindergarten he refused to wear a costume and what I did was send him to school in a pair of camo pants and a camo shirt. When everyone had their costumes on he had a change of heart and was happy when I said he was an army guy.

C.,

When my son was three he did not want to wear a costume either. He was really into Thomas the Train then so I bought him a pair of OshGosh striped overalls with a matching hat, threw a banadana around his neck and called him a train engineer. It worked great for us:) Good luck!

Have youtried something simpler and more every-day liek a baseball uniform, soccer uniform, jumpsuit (repair man type)? Heck, even put him in winter gear and let hime be a winter time kid. Does he like any characters that he may be ok with dressing up as? Or perhaps jammies as a bed time kid. So many costumes are like jammies as well.

Baseball jersey, baseball pants, tennis shoes, baseball cap = baseball player.

Does he have sensory issues that keep him from wearing a costume?

We're having the same problem!! Only my son is 2. I have a really cute turtle costume that I'm probably going to end up returning. So, I went to target and bought a long sleeved shirt with a glow in the dark skeleton on it, if he won't put the turtle on I'll put the skeleton t-shirt on him an just do with that. You could bring your son's costume with you, I'm sure once he sees all the other kids dressed up and having fun he'll want to join in.

I know a while back I saw a sweat outfit at Babies rus with a glow in the dark skeleton, not sure if the size will work, just an idea.

Maybe try something that is a costume without being a full blown costume. COWBOY...jeans and a plaid shirt...maybe a bandana around his neck...a hat if he'll wear it, and/or boots. FARMER...jean overalls and a plaid shirt...farmer "costume" could also go towards a SCARECROW... paint his face a little corn cob pipe in shirt pocket...maybe some patches on his clothes. A NERD... white oxford shirt, a pair of last year's pants and a pocket pen holder. JAMES BOND...Wear a suit,or if he's been in a wedding, his tuxedo. Or if he is totally against all of those, maybe just wear a halloween shirt...Target usually has some really great ones for $5 or less, or maybe go with a character shirt, like spiderman, or whoever he's into. Good luck!...just be happy he doesn't want to be strawberry shortcake, or something you are just 100% against! This is doable!

What about doing something like a frog and having him wear all green clothes, or something where he can wear "street" clothes but be something different. I guess another example would be one we ran into this year. My oldest (who is 5) wants to be Hannah Montana - instead of buying her the costume that they have, we're buying her street clothes (shiny black pants, flashy shirt and a short sweater) that she can wear. The benefit is that she's in a costume (or sorts) that we can reuse all year long. Maybe he has a favorite actor, music artist (not sure if he watches them but you could do this easily with the Wiggles as well). Maybe the guy from Blue's Clues. You wouldn't even have to tell him he's in a costume - just that he's going to wear this outfit on Halloween.

What about dressing him in a black shirt, black pants, and painting black whiskers on him. He could be a black cat. Or skip the whiskers and just add a black hat to the outfit, he could be a sneaky robber, or dark ninja, or something along those lines that requires you to wear all black.

When my children were young we participated in Halloween activities. Every year we did a lot of fun and exciting things. My youngest son was 6 when I gave my life over to the Lord, and decided not to dress my children in costumes anymore. Although they understood the reason for the change they still wanted candy. So I allowed them to participate in the activities at church and dress as people in the bible. Instead of representing evil and darkness, they wore outfits that represented light and love.
I'm saying that to say, it's possible that your son has an awareness about Halloween that he needs to share with you. Ask him what are his reasons and have an open mind. It's possible that he has a high calling on his life and is too young to understand how to explain. All he know is wearing a mask isn't right. Don't make him conform to what others are doing, if he doesn't want to do so. Allow him to be different and learn more about his personality.

Lots of great advice on here. I was going to suggest something that he could wear that wouldn't necessarily be a costume. You got some great ideas.

And this being said if he absolutely refuses to wear anything pack something with him, I am sure once he sees all the other kids wearing something he will want something on too.

What about a halloween shirt. Send a costume so there is one there if he wants it...otherwise don't worry about it.

What about a white sweatshirt and white sweat pants with just black spots on them. He could be a simple Dalmation puppy.
Maybe he would be comfortable wearing that. Good luck!

Maybe you could just get him a little football jersey shirt, put a some of that black stuff under his eyes and call him a football player.

buy him a t shirt with halloween stuff on it, or find a kids size shirt that says "this is my costume' they have halloween shirts usually at target with ghost or bats of things like that, that way he is still dressed for the holiday

Ask him what he would like to be. Maybe he'll let you paint his face and he can wear a silly hat or something. Show him some ideas on the computer and maybe he'll be a little more excited about the whole idea. Good luck!

I teach at a preschool and this is NOT uncommon. Buy him a Halloween shirt from Old Navy or buy a plain tshirt and make one together!

No one else will care if he's dressed up or not.

C. you could try a "costume" based on his regular clothes, like the football player mentioned in earlier posts. One year I dressed my son as a black cat in black sweats (top and bottoms) painted a kitty face on him and a pair of kitty ears from the store and tail pinned to his sweats. It looked cute I went as the momma kitty that year. Does your son not like masks on his face or is it the entire costume thing? If you use his regular clothes they are familar to him and less likely to cause problems (I would think). Does he like to wear hats? We did a unicorn with white sweats a felt hood made to look like a unicorn and fur tail pinned to the sweats.
Good luck, hope this helps a little.
K.

Maybe he would like dressing up like a baseball, basketball,football or hockey player. The ease of a jersey logo and jeans would even surfice. Or, you could go all out with the hats, matching pants, make-up, nerf balls, etc... Or, what about a cowboy? hat, bandana, shirt, jeans/pants and you're done. See if your son has any suggestions.

I wouldn't push him too much. I would give him three options and let him pick. Tell him he can dress up (something very simple), wear his favorite football jersey (paint under eyes), or wear a halloween themed shirt. Start talking about it ahead of time and let him know that all of the kids will be dressed up for fun...Good luck!