10 Contemporary Fancy Dress Ideas for Your Preschooler

ParentCircle
Aug 9, 2017 · 6 min read

Move on from historical figures and celestial beings. Fancy dress contests should be fun for both the participants and the audience. These amazing, DIY ideas will have your child floored.

Participating in fancy dress competitions in the 90s was primarily a requirement thrust on school-going children, with the parents scrambling to hire costumes of freedom fighters, historical figures and Gods. These costumes, although designed to inspire and motivate young children, often held serious themes that bypassed the fun element. In recent times, these kind of competitions have spilled outside the school walls. The parents, who found fancy dressing a chore, seem to have gotten innovative with the themes and ideas. In order to give their little ones a better experience they go for costumes that are age appropriate — mainly popular figures in the children’s everyday life and characters that they look up to.

If you are wondering how to get your child to have a fun time dressing up for a competition, here are a few DIY ideas:

1. Chota Bheem

Chota Bheem is an animation series centred around the adventures of a young boy named Bheem and his friends, from a quaint town called Dholakpur. The show portrays themes of bravery, friendship and problem solving in a heroic way and is a hit with young children.

Things you will need:

  • Saffron dhoti or dupatta
  • Yellow chart paper
  • Brown shoes
  • Tilak/kumkum powder
  • Hair gel

How to:

Drape your son with saffron dhoti or dupatta, with pleats in the front. A yellow chart paper can be used to make two bangles on each hand, and a small square pendant that can be hung around the neck with the help of a black thread. Bheem is known to wear tilak and brown shoes. Hair gel can be used to make the iconic spike that Bheem sports on the front of his head.

2. Bal Hanuman

This hit animation series is based on the younger version of Lord Hanuman and his adventures and heroism. It is a fun character and children look up to him for inspiration of strength and virtues such as honesty, charity and hard work.

Things you will need:

  • Saffron dhoti or dupatta
  • A ball
  • A wooden stick (60 centimetres)
  • Golden paper
  • Yellow chart paper
  • Pink-coloured washable paint
  • Brown-coloured cloth, cotton, needle and thread.

How to:

Drape the dhoti around the waist. Hanuman carries a Gada or mace , which can be made using a ball and a stick. A wooden stick should be stuck to the ball using cello-tape and glue and the whole thing can be covered with golden paper. Yellow chart can be used to make bangles and amulets. For the tail, a little stitching is required. Cut a light brown cloth of 60 cm x 10 cm dimension. Fold the cloth vertically and cross stitch on the edges. Stuff the cloth with cotton before closing it off completely. Stitch the tail to the dhoti, for a make-do tail. Use pink colour to face paint the impressions of a monkey around your son’s mouth.

3. Ben 10

Ben 10 is a fictional 10-year-old who uses a watch-like device to transform into alien creatures, goes on exciting adventures and fights evil. He is considered to be cool, talented and skillful among children.

Things you need:

  • Plain white shirt
  • Black colour paper
  • A watch
  • Green chart paper
  • Dark green pants

How to:

Ben wears a white shirt with a vertical black strip in the middle and black colour. You can cut a thin strip of black paper and stick it on the front of a white shirt. The watch is an important part of the costume. Stick green paper on the face of the watch with black brackets facing away from each other drawn on it in black. Dark green pants finish the costume.

4. Mighty Raju

Mighty Raju is a superhuman four-year-old who has a strong sense of values and morals and immense physical strength. Sharing similar themes with Chota Bheem and Bal Hanuman this show is also extremely popular among children.

Things you need:

  • Red sleeveless shirt
  • Black half pants
  • Yellow cloth
  • Red cap

How to:

Raju’s costume consists of a simple black half pant, red sleeveless shirt, red cap and a yellow cape, which can be made out of any cloth of that colour and fixed near the child’s shoulder

5. Minions

Minions are silly and funny, and serve the most despicable evil masters on earth. Minions are hugely popular among children because of their lack of self-control and general stupidity.

Things you need:

  • Yellow shirt
  • Blue overalls
  • White chart paper and a black head band
  • A banana

How to:

You can dress your child with blue overalls and yellow shirt. If you can’t find a blue overall, you can make-do with blue pants. Cut out two circles from white chart paper for minion’s eyes and stick it onto a black head band. Tie the band around the child’s head. You can ask your son to carry a banana in hand to complete the costume.

6. Queen Elsa

Queen Elsa from the popular movie Frozen is strong, beautiful and extremely powerful, and a hit with children. She can whip up anything from ice cream to a grand castle with just a flick of her wrist. Little girls seem to love this character and dream of dressing up in her beautiful costume.

Thing you need:

  • A pale blue dress
  • White transparent cloth
  • Some sparkles

How to:

A simple pale blue dress and a white transparent cloth for a cape is all you need for an Elsa costume. You can add some silver sparkles on the hair and costume for added pizazz.

7. Mr Bean

Mr Bean is a lovable character who is a big hit among children because he is extremely funny and always gets into sticky situations. Mr. Bean is accident-prone and stupid in a heart-warming way. His best friend is a small brown soft toy called Teddy.

Things you need:

  • White shirt
  • Black pants
  • Red tie
  • Brown overcoat
  • A small brown-coloured teddy

How To:

This one is easy to do and with some funny mannerisms, your child can get this right.

8. Penguin

Penguins is a feature film that stars three penguin brothers who go on adventure, causing more trouble than necessary and eventually saving the day.

Things you need:

  • Black full-sleeved shirt
  • Black pants
  • Black cap
  • White and yellow chart paper

How to:

Stick an oval shaped white chart paper on top of the shirt. Make a cone out of yellow chart paper, press it flat and stick its end to the black cap. This will give an illusion of a beak. You can also shape webbed feet out of yellow chart paper and stick it to your child feet.

9. SpongeBob

Spongebob Squarepants is a sea sponge, running about his daily life as a fry cook with a lot of energy and optimism. Strange imagination and humour attracts children to this show.

Thing you need:

  • Square cardboard box
  • Chart paper in yellow, brown and white
  • Sketch pens

How to:

Take a square cardboard box that could cover your daughter from neck to knee. Make suitable holes for the head, arms and legs. Cover the top three-fourths of the cube with yellow chart paper. Underneath it, stick a strip of white horizontally, followed by a brown strip. Using sketch pen, draw a red tie, eyes and wide smile with only two teeth showing.

10. Dora the Explorer

Little Dora is an explorer and adventurer who also teaches children valuable lessons such as team work, counting, hard work and persistence. Girls love her character for the sense of adventure and fun she inspires in them.

Thing you need:

  • Pink Shirt
  • Orange half pants
  • A purple backpack
  • White shoes

How to:

The costume for this is a simple one. You have to get Dora’s hairstyle right. If your daughter has long hair, you can tie it up with hair pins to make it look like a bob cut.

The costume picks for fancy dresses have changed over the years. Fancy dress competitions are also a chance for your child to be the person they admire.

Originally published by parentcircle.com

Written by

https://www.parentcircle.com - We connect parents, educators, child experts to share ideas, knowledge and experiences on raising happy children

Welcome to a place where words matter. On Medium, smart voices and original ideas take center stage - with no ads in sight. Watch
Follow all the topics you care about, and we’ll deliver the best stories for you to your homepage and inbox. Explore
Get unlimited access to the best stories on Medium — and support writers while you’re at it. Just $5/month. Upgrade