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Release your child’s inner nature-lover this Halloween with this darling &amp; simple snail costume!Looking for more creative costumes for your little one? <a href="https://www.kiwico.com/store" target="_self">KiwiCo's</a> <a href="https://www.kiwico.com/us/store/dp/motorized-wings-costume-project-kit/4547" target="_self">Motorized Wings</a> let their imagination take flight with a set of flapping wings!

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Cut 6 feet (1.8 meters) of kraft paper and crumple it up.

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Uncrumple and roll the kraft paper lengthwise. Then twist it up.

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Tightly roll the twisted kraft paper into a spiral and use hot glue to secure the roll as you go. Hold the roll in place for a couple minutes each time you add glue.

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Repeat Steps 1-4 to make a second spiral.

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Cut two 1 foot (30.5 cm) pieces of kraft paper. Then roll and twist them. These will be the tentacles for the snail’s eyes!

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Glue the pom-poms to the top of the tentacles and add on googly eyes if you have them. Then glue the tentacles to the headband. It works best if you wrap the ends around the bottom of the headband. Be sure to hold them in place to secure the glue for several minutes!

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Cut a piece of cardboard so the length is slightly larger than the kraft paper spirals and the width is slightly smaller than your child’s back.

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Poke holes in the corners of the cardboard. Measure around your child’s arms (like your fitting a backpack) and adjust the length of the rope or ribbon. Tie the rope or ribbon onto the cardboard.

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Glue the kraft paper spirals together. Once the glue has dried, turn them on their side and glue the snail shell onto the cardboard. You’ll need a lot of glue to secure the shell so be sure to hold it in place for several minutes!

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Most land snails are pretty small, but did you know certain species can grow to be much bigger? The African Giant Snail is about 8 inches long (20 cm) on average. That’s longer than a brand new pencil!<img data-image="34qzt9fb9txn" src="https://images.contentstack.io/v3/assets/blt5d966d0d1776691c/blt483895d299b2ed82/615b86b615005a5ff8fbcdb4/shutterstock_1257388279.jpg" data-sys-asset-uid="blt483895d299b2ed82" alt="shutterstock_1257388279.jpg">

kraft packing paper

Cardboard Rectangle

rope or ribbon

headband

hot glue gun

large pom poms

googly eyes (optional)

Snail Costume

rain

weather

This DIY rain cloud costume is so cute, and beyond easy! All you need is a few basic materials you probably already have at home.

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Using spray adhesive or hot glue, attach polyester batting to the hat in small clumps. Keep adding on until your cloud is the shape and fluff your kiddo desires!

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Fold over the felt sheets and trace large rain drops using a pencil. Then cut out the raindrops so that you have two of each.

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Cut pieces of yarn or string in varying lengths. Glue one piece of yarn or string between each raindrop pair.

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Glue the ends of the yarn or string on the brim of the cloud hat. Be sure to leave a gap for your little one’s face!

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Add more polyester batting to the underside of the hat’s brim to make the cloud look extra fluffy!

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Lookin’ for some kid-friendly weather science? Learn all about the water cycle and how meteorologists make their forecasts in <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ce2FjyS3wQ">this video.&nbsp; </a><iframe style="width: 500px; height: 281px;" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/0ce2FjyS3wQ" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>

wide brim hat

polyester batting

Felt

string or yarn

spray adhesive glue (optional)

Rain Cloud Costume

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Turn your little one into an astronaut ready to blast off with this simple DIY costume.

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Spray paint your bottles. It may take a few coats for bottles made of colored plastic.

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Make your straps. We stuck two pieces of duct tape together to make our straps, but you could also use yarn, ribbon or felt!

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Tape your bottles together with a band of duct tape. (Optional: A few dots of hot glue can be added between the bottles for extra stability!)

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Attach one end of your straps to the back of the bottle with duct tape. Call over your little astronaut to measure out how long the straps need to be, then secure the other end of your straps using duct tape.

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Make your flames. Cut several pieces of red, orange, and yellow tissue paper, and attach to the insides of the bottle openings using more duct tape (or hot glue)!

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Add additional decorations! We added a star using silver duct tape. You can also get creative and add some control panels to the straps!

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While jet packs aren’t currently in use by NASA astronauts, in 1984 NASA tested out a device they called a Manned Maneuvering Unit. It had two aluminum tanks full of nitrogen that astronauts could use to propel themselves in space!<img data-image="2stq9s630ysk" src="https://images.contentstack.io/v3/assets/blt5d966d0d1776691c/bltb5c4117d1de91466/615b872bc34d415711f7e629/Bruce_McCandless_II_during_EVA_in_1984.jpg" data-sys-asset-uid="bltb5c4117d1de91466" alt="Bruce_McCandless_II_during_EVA_in_1984.jpg">
Image courtesy of NASA.

2 empty plastic bottles

silver spray paint

tissue paper or felt

duct tape

Jet Pack Costume

At our house, costumes aren't just for Halloween. My kids love thinking up fantastical adventures and, when we make costumes, we want them to last for a long time because they get a lot of play. So when my daughter decided she wanted to be a princess for Halloween, she decided to craft a crown with some staying power...

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Go through a bowl of buttons and pick out your favorite buttons.  Bonus points for shiny, sparkly buttons.

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Draw out the shape of your crown, and then cut it out.  (Younger kids may need some grownup assistance with this step.) 

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Carefully sew on one button at a time.  (You may need to help your child thread the needle or work the needle through the felt from time to time.  It can be a little tricky at times.)

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Decorate your crown to your heart's content. 

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Overlap the ends a couple of inches, and sew the crown closed.  (Again, you may need to help pull the needle through the felt occasionally.)

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Here's a close-up of the back of the crown all finished up, so you can see what the stitching looks like. 

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Put your crown on and, if you're like my daughter, go outside and play on the swings. (After all, how else can you make sure your crown will stay put?)Then go and rule your crafty little kingdom! (My little princess decided to make a second crown that very night.) 

felt

buttons

permanent markers (e.g., sharpies)

yarn

yarn needle

scissors

Felt Crown

bunny

decorations

The perfect accessory for your Easter egg hunt! Create an adorable bunny tail to wear as you search for those eggs.

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Take your scissors and cut a piece of yarn that is about 4 feet-long.  This will act as a belt to secure your Pom-Pom Tail.  Put it aside.

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Hold the Pom-Pom Winder in one hand.  Using your dominant hand, start winding the yarn from the skein around and around.  Don't wrap it too tightly or it may be difficult to remove from the winder.  Keep winding!  One full yarn skein will create a big fluffy Pom-Pom Tail.

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When you are done winding, take the 4 feet-long piece of yarn and tie it around the middle of the looped yarn between the arms of the Pom-Pom Winder.  The long string of yarn will act as a belt so make sure to secure the bunny tail in the center.  Tie it twice to make sure it is extra secure.

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Pull the yarn off the Pom-Pom Winder.  Take the scissors and cut both ends of the looped yarn.  Adult assistance may be required!  As you do this, make sure not to cut the piece of yarn that was used to tie the middle.  Once the loops are cut, you will have your Pom-Pom Tail.

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Take the long string and tie it around your waist to secure the tail in place.  Now get hopping!

pom pom winder

Scissors

Yarn Bunny Tail

fashion

jewelry

handmade gifts

gift

Finger knitting may seem complicated at first...but after the first minute, it's easy to understand, and it goes really fast!  You'll have a bracelet, a belt, or even a scarf made in no time!

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Bulky, fluffy yarns work really well for this project!

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You can use anywhere from two to four fingers. For the sake of simplicity, we used two fingers. First, Madeleine held the end of the string down with her thumb, then pulled the other end between her forefinger and middle finger.

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She wound the yarn under her middle finger, between her middle finger and ring finger, and back over her middle finger, forming a loop. Next, she looped the yarn under her forefinger and back over it, forming a second loop. Then she did the same thing again -- under and over her middle finger, under and over her forefinger. She then pulled the yarn between her forefinger and middle finger and let it go, allowing it to rest behind her hand for the next steps.

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Now there were two loops on each finger. She grabbed the bottom loop on the middle finger,

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and pulled it over the top loop and right off her middle finger. Then she did the same thing on her pointer finger: lifted the bottom loop over the top loop and slid it right off. This made her first stitch!

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So with one loop on each finger, now she needed to make another top set of loops. She did this by weaving the yarn under and then over her middle finger, and under and then over her forefinger. As before, she then pulled the working yarn down between her fingers and let it rest behind her hand.

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On she went, weaving and lifting bottom loops over, until she had the length she wanted for a bracelet.

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To bind off, she stopped when she had a single loop on each finger. Then she took the loop off the second finger, and placed it on the first finger.

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Then she pulled the bottom loop over the top loop.

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She cut the yarn about 5" (12.7 cm)&nbsp;away from the knitting, pulled the last loop off her finger, and pulled the string through the loop.

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She pulled each end of the yarn tightly, to tie off the piece. Then (with a little adult help) she tied the strings together around her wrist to make a bracelet and trimmed the ends.

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After the first few passes of the yarn, Madeleine understood well how it went, and started doing it while watching something else. She has quite a collection!

Finger Knitting Bracelet

playdate activities

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This crown was so very simple but was the start to an afternoon filled with imaginative play. I just love when that happens and with just one material.

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All you need for this is a handful of pipe cleaners.

Panda Crate

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Studio: Maker Crate

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13 fun costumes projects for kids

Screen-free fun!