Halloween with its mystical ambiance builds a lot of lasting childhood memories. Sometimes just hearing the name of this spooky holiday in passing will bring up the image of a flickering jack-o'-lantern or the sound of autumn leaves crunching under your feet as you roam through the neighborhood with friends.
But arguably the biggest contributors to the haunting atmosphere are the costumes. They allow us to step into the shoes of our favorite characters and make the experience even more worthwhile. So, continuing the tradition we set in 2021 and 2022, Bored Panda wants to give a shout-out to those who take it seriously and present the best Halloween costumes for kids.
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"There's A Storm Front Blowing In" Halloween Costume
Happy Halloween From The Queen
These pictures remind us that when people celebrate, they bring different ideas about everything, and sometimes it can be hard to answer the questions that arise from it. Such as, at what age should the kids stop trick-or-treating.
It can leave parents — and other people contributing to their costumes — feeling a bit torn.
"There's the side where you want your kids to have this wonderful ritual-like festival," Colleen Harmeling, an associate professor in the school of business at Florida State University, told NPR. "But then you're balancing it with these other demands — and those other demands are where morality kind of comes into play."
I Crocheted My Daughter Her First Halloween Costume. I Present You A Baby Gnome
That is so cute and it keeps her little face warm if it's cold when you take her trick or treating.
My Daughter Wanted To Be A Snail For Halloween
This Incredible Halloween Baby Costume
Now THIS is funny! You're going to have some explaining to do when your child grows up, though.
Harmeling believes Halloween for kids is much more than a sack of candy. "I think it is this visibility to the community that they're embedded in. It's a night of fantasy when they see all of these other kids pretending along with them."
It's like a real-life role-playing game. For millions of kids, it can perform one of the most important functions of play: easing the pressure and stress they're under.
My Daughter Wanted To Be A Sheepdog For Halloween
Halloween With Matryoshka Dolls
The Cutest Turtle I Ever Seen
My Daughter Wanted To Be Astrid From How To Train Your Dragon This Year For Halloween. It Took Me A Month, But I Did It
"It's also a moment where they can in some ways break the rules where it's safe," Harmeling explained. "You know, they're wandering in the street. They're among all of these strangers, they're not wearing proper clothes, you know?
So in a sense, it gives them the freedom to be wild.
"That's why it has become such a core rite of passage in our culture because it isn't just candy."
My Son Dressed As The Pillsbury Doughboy For Halloween, And The Pictures Makes Me Smile
She's Been Growing Out Her Hair For Nearly Two Years With The Express Purpose Of Being Dumbledore For Halloween. She's Five
My Nephews Dressed As Yoda And Luke For Halloween
Our Daughter's Costume Is Perfect For The Covid-19 Era
But the benefits don't stop there. The professor thinks that these trick-or-treaters who dress up to celebrate Halloween are doing a service to adults, too.
"They're signaling their appropriate membership in the community," she said. "Like if you are in a high trick-or-treating zone, it's kind of your moral duty to participate, you know, to keep your light on."
As we take part in what is basically a massive candy redistribution scheme, we also get to cultivate our own sense of altruism and feel the warm glow that comes from contributing to our community.
My Wife Made Our Son A Baby Groot Costume For This Halloween
Brilliant
For Halloween My Daughter Insisted On Dressing Up As Her Dungeons And Dragons Character, Ashera - The Moon Elf Druid
Yes! Celebrating another generation of RPG nerddom! Enjoy the lack of THAC0 in current versions, young elf.
La Llorona Ghost Costume. If She Sees You, She Won't Know If It's You Or Her Own Child, And You Will Never Be Seen Again
Plus, there's the basic entertainment factor.
"You're witnessing the enjoyment and the emotional contagion of a collective group [of ecstatic children in costumes]," Harmeling said. So there's this shared emotion through all of this."
My 11-Year-Old Cousin's The Dude Costume From The Big Lebowski
I Made An Alien Abduction Costume For My Son
My Son's Halloween Costume This Year
My 5-Year-Old Wanted Nothing More Than To Be Flo For Halloween. My Wife Put This Together For Her
And if you've ever taken an active part in it, chances are you may have done a double-take at seemingly adult-sized trick-or-treaters. Some towns even ban older kids from it altogether.
According to Harmeling, such actions can be interpreted as both good and bad behavior.
My Twin Daughter's Halloween Costumes Paying Homage To The 90s Classic "Clueless"
My Little Dude Seems Ready To Be Shot Into Space For Halloween
All The Boys In My Nephew's Class Dressed As Chickens For Halloween. He Surprised Them And Showed Up As Colonel Sanders With A Real Bucket Of Kentucky Fried Chicken
"There's a biological reason behind why you're likely to grab your hand into your bag of candy and throw pounds of it to a three-year-old who's coming to your door, and then offer a single piece to that 13-year-old who's coming to your door," she said.
"It's because they are the more innocent, they're the more vulnerable."
My Son's Dr. Octopus Costume Created By My Wife
Happy Halloween. Here's Our Spaghetti And Meatballs. All Credit For The Costume Goes To His Momma
My Super Simple Costume Idea For Halloween
Deja vu moment, thank you❤️, @OP: I did that one on the left side with my (then hip long medium blonde very straight) hair and glasses when I was bored to death at school in grades 5-8 🤣👻 (and I've never watched the Addams Family and still don't know who this character is supposed to be 🤷🏼♀️)
But Harmeling believes teenagers shouldn't feel vilified if they go out to trick-or-treat, and if a child is wavering on whether to go, parents should try to find a way to support them — and make sure Halloween is safe and fun. At the end of the day, they're trying to raise a good person, and it's a great occasion for bonding. So if you believe that some of the kids in this list are too old to be on it, maybe just look away!
For Clarity, I Added LEDs To A Costume You Can Get Online. I Didn't Make This From Scratch
A Little Burrito
Homemade Piranha Plant Costume
When Your Kid Wants To Be Both A Hot Dog And Michael Myers For Halloween. Oscar Myers Is Born
My 8-Year-Old Son As A Stanley Ipkiss From The Mask At His School's Halloween Contest
They call me Cuban Pete. I'm the king of the rumba beat. When I play the maracas I go chick-chicky-boom, chick-chicky boom.
Hocus Pocus-Inspired Costume For Halloween
That Is So Great, But How Does She Carry Her Treat Bag?
I Finished My Son's Mike Wazowski Costume
My Son's Luigi Halloween Costume
I Imagine This Kid Going To Each House Asking For A Specific Candy, Then Passing Out On The Steps When They Don't Have It
The Headless Waiter Costume That I Made For My Son
My Son Is Skull Kid From Majora's Mask For Halloween
My Daughter Chose To Wear This Halloween Costume During Her Gymnastics Practice
Cool, the referees won't notice slightly bent knees and elbows! 👍🏻😎 (source: I've been a referee for female gymnastics competitions for 16 years)
My Son Asked To Be Bulbasaur For Halloween
Halloween With Cherry Twins
Do they have to stand beside each other for hours at a time, or do the cherry stems ever separate?
My 6-Year-Old Nephew Wanted To Be The Mario Piranha Plant For Halloween
I really like that parents just roll with it and go along with the kiddies ideas
Halloween In The Police Cruiser
My Son's Halloween Costume
He hasn't seen "Pan's Labyrinth", but he's seen stills and decided to be the scariest kid on the block.
My Son Asked To Be Hellboy For Halloween. Utter Fun To Put It Together With My Wife And Mother-In-Law
Boss Baby
Our Son's Halloween Costume That We Made For Him
What Time Is It? Halloween Time
Happy Halloween From Frida. Baby Already Had The Brows, So Naturally, This Was The Perfect Costume Idea
My Daughter's Costume - Blackberry Bat. It Is Her Own Made-Up Villain
This Handmade Oogie Boogie Costume
My Nephew's Halloween Costume. Guess Who He Is
Identity theft is not a joke Jim! Millions of families suffer every year!
I Decide To Dress My Son As A Clown For This Year's Halloween. I Made A DIY Ruffle Collar And A Cardboard Cone With Pom-Poms. Everything Was Done On Last Minute
Card board and last minute? Take my upvote for crafty thrifty inexpensive parenting.
My Wife Went With A Local Theme For Our Son's Halloween Costume This Year
Attaching the slide to the front would be practical but also inappropriate 😏
I Made My Daughter's Halloween Costume. She's Our Little Chicken Nugget
This is so adorable! I bet it would be hard for her not to play with the feathers. I know I would😂
My Kid Wanted To Be Bluey From Wackadoo For Halloween
My Daughter Wanted To Be A Tractor For Halloween. So I Made Her A Tractor
Such Adorable Halloween Costume
Happy Halloween From Buzz Lightyear
My Child Dressed As Jack Dawson From "Titanic" For Halloween
My Son's Necromancer Costume
My Toddler's Eevee Costume For Halloween
My Kids In Their Costumes
Homemade Huntress Costume For Daughter's Halloween
We Are Ready For The School's Halloween Party
Happy Halloween From Tinkerbell And Peter Pan
I'm Not Sure We Can Top Last Year's Costumes, But Here We Are
My 8-Year-Old Son's Halloween Costume
Aloy Halloween Costume For My Daughter. Plus Bonus Bender For My Youngest
Ha! I'd have such a hard time not making inappropriate Bender quotes all night.
Our Halloween Costume Pic
My Son Is Going To Be Frodo Baggins For Halloween
My Son Dressed Up As Link From Zelda For Halloween. Shout Out To My Husband For The Handmade Shield
La Familia Madrigal
My 8-Year-Old Wanted To Be Reaper For Halloween, So I Made Him His First Cosplay. First Cosplay I Have Ever Made, And Now I'm Hooked
My Daughter Dressed Up As Genji From Overwatch For Halloween
My Son's Star Wars-Inspired Halloween Costume For This Year
My 4-Year-Old Son Wanted To Be A Happy Meal For This Halloween
This Is The Halloween Costume I Made For My Son. His School Didn't Allow Weapon Accessories, So I Created A Lumafly Lantern Instead. The Whole Project Took Over 20 Hours Of Work
My Daughter Dressed Up As Michael Jackson From The Smooth Criminal Music Video
I Made A Welsh Dragon Costume For My Little Boy
My 7-Year-Old Son's Little Nightmares Janitor Costume
My Daughter Dressed My Grandson As A Carrot For Halloween Because She Couldn't Find A Pumpkin Costume
This Hilarious Halloween Costume
My Wife Made My Son's Awesome Halloween Costume
Our Son Chose The Theme. All Costumes Handmade By Me
My Daughter Wanted To Be A Lizalfos For Halloween. I Spent Every Free Moment I Had In October Making Her Costume
I Have An Acute Case Of Fomo Called Fear Of Missing Out On Dressing My Last Baby As Everything For Halloween
Happy Halloween
Wilbur. My Son Loves The Dodos So We Knew What He Had To Be For Halloween
My Son Wanted To Be Motorsports Racing Driver Max Verstappen For Halloween, So I Had To Make Him A Costume
Happy Halloween
My Daughter's Costume, Dani Dennison From Hocus Pocus
My 6-Year-Old Wanted To Be A Evoker For Halloween, So We Made It Happen
My Woodworking Project Got Put To Good Use This Halloween. Here's My Kids' Costumes
Samara Is Back
My Son As A Minecraft Steve For Halloween
My Kid Is Chuckie Finster. I Guess That Makes Me Chas. Happy Halloween
Aww Chuckie is my absolute favorite! He even has a little Reptar🦖
We're Looking For Paul And Ringo
Happy Halloween From Spider-Man's Sister
My Son Wanted To Be His Dragonborn Character For Halloween
My Wife Dresses Our 7-Month-Old Son The Rest Of The Year, But I Get Halloween. I Might Have Taken It Too Far
My Little Sister's Halloween Costume This Year. Doctor Who?
Little Eddie - My Son's Halloween Costume
We Are Reading The Tiffany Books, And My Son Wanted To Be A Feegle For Halloween. So, I Present To You This
Apollo 11 And Astronaut Buzz Aldrin. This Costume Took 2 Months To Design And Build For My 5-Year-Old Son, Who Is Obsessed With The Apollo Space Mission
My Son Wanted To Be Chaos Double Agent For Halloween. The Mask Took Me A Long Time To Make But He Absolutely Loved It
He Doesn't Have His Sonic Yet, But My Son Will Be The 11th Doctor For Halloween, And He Is Overjoyed
My 9-Year-Old Daughter Wanted To Be Hornet For This Halloween
Annabelle Comes Home. Happy Halloween
My Son's Animal Crossing Halloween Costume. His Grandpa Made The Mask For Him
My Son's Costume
My Son's Green Costume For Halloween
My Son Is Really Into Showbiz Pizza, Specifically Billy Bob. Made Him His Dream Costume
My Son As Super Mario Character
Happy Halloween From Deadpool, A Spider Sorceress And A Witch
According To My Kid, Star Wars Halloween Is Stupid
My Son Chose To Dress Like A TriMet Operator For Halloween
LOL, My brother was often asked in high school if he was TriMet driver. The school uniform had the same pants for the boys as the drivers.
My 10-Year-Old Son Recently Started Playing Baldur's Gate And Fell In Love With Minsc
For Halloween My Son Wanted To Be His Favorite Driver - Ryan Blaney
My Little Brother's Shanks Costume For Halloween
My Daughter Wanted To Be Bismuth From Steven Universe For Halloween. So We Did Our Best With Some Help From The Internet For Ideas
Americans really push the boat out when it comes to Halloween costumes. We just tend to buy costumes in the UK. When I was a kid you had a bin liner as a witches cape and you were done.
Certainly less pressure on parents that way. Imagine if these kinds of costumes were the bar that your kid's costume is measured against by their schoolmates and your community.
Load More Replies...I updated my BP app today. Apparently the update 'fixed bugs' but stories still don't load :(
Thank you for the great tip! So frustrating lately!
Load More Replies...Some of these people can pull more talent out their noses than I have in my entire body
Americans really push the boat out when it comes to Halloween costumes. We just tend to buy costumes in the UK. When I was a kid you had a bin liner as a witches cape and you were done.
Certainly less pressure on parents that way. Imagine if these kinds of costumes were the bar that your kid's costume is measured against by their schoolmates and your community.
Load More Replies...I updated my BP app today. Apparently the update 'fixed bugs' but stories still don't load :(
Thank you for the great tip! So frustrating lately!
Load More Replies...Some of these people can pull more talent out their noses than I have in my entire body