Halloween is almost here, and if you’ve got a sensory sensitive kiddo, you might be dreading putting on that costume. Sensory sensitive kids are often overwhelmed by tags, seams, and things on their face and head. Which describes a lot of what a traditional Halloween costume entails. So what can you do to make sure your child can still enjoy the school party, trick or treating and other festivities? Read on to see some of my tips on how to find a fun, sensory friendly costume that will keep your child comfortable and happy.
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Sensory Friendly Alternatives
First tip is to think outside of the box a little bit. Instead of defaulting to a traditional costume, consider clothing items that can get the job done. You can use pajamas, socks, and t-shirts. You can find more generic things like these tag free boys skeleton pajamas or these tag free cheetah print pjs, or look for something more specific. There are lots of these kind of items that even have the characters your child might want to be dressing up as printed on them. Here’s a Captain America tag free shirt or this super cute tag free Paw Patrol toddler boys’ hoodie! Here’s a motherload of superhero outfits in boys sizes! They have Black Panther, Ironman, Thor, Spiderman, Captain America, Incredible Hulk and Venom.
Use a Sensory Friendly Item & Paint It/Attach Other Items To It
Stay with me…you can do a lot with your child wearing comfy clothes like t-shirts and leggings and you attach or paint the more “recognizable” features of the costume onto the clothes. Think M&Ms, all red outfit with Elmo’s face glued to the shirt, crayons, an emoji, bubble gum machine, the game “Operation.” Here are some puffy paint pumpkin sweatshirts. Here’s one mom’s version of a DIY cookie monster t-shirt costume. Here’s a super cute DIY gumball machine costume.
Sensory Friendly Ridable Costumes
This will probably depend a lot on your child, but I suspect a lot of kids who are sensitive to tags might do well with this set up. Especially because some of these costumes are so fun/exciting, some kids might be able to tolerate the drawstring waistband that holds most of them up. There are lots of options to choose from, but this safari/tiger riding was one of my favorites. This dragon is pretty impressive and there’s a unicorn if you’re going for mythical, yet delicate.
Which One Looks the Most Fun to You?
Remember that at the end of the day, you don’t have to impress anyone with a costume. It’s most meaningful that your child is relaxed and has fun. What is your child wanting to dress up as? Tell me below and I’ll share any tips I have to make it more sensory friendly!
Thanks for the great article!