Crafting a Costume

by Juli My son has got a fantastic imagination. He re-enacts favourite Thomas episodes, creates mysteries that he must solve, and constructs unique machines. Even with all of this imagination, he does not like to dress up.  This made Halloween and costumes a predicament. But, this year I tried a new strategy….getting him interested by letting him choose what to be and help make it. He decided he wanted to be a spooky train. OK, how about a train? And just like that, we are crafting our own costume.

Here is how we did it.

I used a Xerox paper box for the body of the train. I cut a rectangular opening from the bottom for my son’s body to fit in. Then, I used the extra cardboard (box lid and scraps) to make the wheels, front cab, and face of the engine.  We painted the box Thomas colours. We used wood glue to attach the wheels, front cab, bumpers, and engine face (you can also use a glue gun, I just didn’t have one).

To make sure the cab face stayed up straight, I glued a ¼” dowel to the back base. Then we added shoulder straps to help keep the costume on his body.  Next, I cut a whole in the top front of the box to stick the funnel in (it was made of a paper towel role).  As a final detail, we cut a whole in the front of the box and stuck a small LED flashlight in it.

Overall, I think it turned out well, even for a novice crafter.  What I enjoyed most was that it was a joint project for my son and me.  He took great pride in helping make it and wore it quite happily on Hollow-eve.

A friend mentioned that this would even been a great craft for dress-up play. I agree! But, my son won’t be doing that. He thinks dress-up is just for Halloween ;)