In kindergartens and primary schools, children often have entertainment events, an essential attribute of which is funny costumes. Every parent can make an outfit for a boy or girl in 1-2 evenings using scrap materials that can be found at home.
Features and advantages of the material
The creative process begins with defining the concept of the outfit. It is necessary to find out from the child what kind of holiday will be held and what it is dedicated to, whether the child has a special role that requires a special costume. Perhaps the child himself will offer an idea for his outfit or express a wish for what kind of hero he sees himself as.
Having decided on the theme of the clothes, you need to select the material. In the house you will always find wrapping paper and newspapers, plastic bags and bottles, cotton wool. When making an original outfit, you may need paints, glue, a stapler, and scotch tape.
Heavy or dangerous materials such as glass, batteries, or metal parts with sharp edges cannot be used for children's costumes.
From plastic bottles
A costume made from waste material, such as plastic bottles, will be fun for boys and girls to make with their own hands. Children can do some of the work themselves, but usually they need help from their parents.
For boys, you can make a mechanical robot outfit.
To work you will need:
- 15 plastic bottles with a square bottom, 1.5 l;
- 2 square plastic containers with a capacity of 5 l;
- silver paint;
- scotch.
The basis of the original outfit will be old pants and a shirt or T-shirt with long sleeves. It is advisable to choose clothes in light colors - white, cream, gray.
At the first stage, the bottom and the top part with the screw cap are cut off from all the bottles to a height of 6-10 cm. The resulting parts are painted with silver paint. These elements should look technical.
To attach the plastic elements to the suit, you need to make holes on them on opposite sides of the edge, this will make it easier to sew.
The details are sewn onto the clothes in the following order:
- on each front part of the trouser leg along the leg, 5 bottoms;
- 5 top parts of bottles are sewn along the arms;
- 5 bottoms are placed tightly on the stomach;
- In the chest area, attach 2 bottoms of large bottles.
You can complement such an outfit with a hat made from a large plastic bottle: just cut off the bottom part and paint the top part silver. Antennas are made for the hat from wire.
To keep the headdress in place, you can attach an elastic band above the ears and pass it under the chin. The outfit is complemented with wires, corrugated tubes, and plastic parts from a Lego constructor.
A spectacular mermaid costume for girls can be easily made from green plastic bottles. You will need 20-30 bottles.
Progress of work:
- The bottoms are cut off to a height of 5-7 cm.
- Cut off the necks and cut the remaining bottles into 3 parts lengthwise. Make a hole in the upper narrow part.
- The green plastic strips are gathered with the narrow part upwards on a cord or elastic band. Such a garland will represent a skirt. The previously cut bottoms are fixed along the bottom of the improvised skirt; you can use a stapler, glue or sew them on. The plastic skirt is put on over a fabric skirt or leggings.
An old T-shirt, preferably green, trimmed with plastic scraps will do for the bodice. The headdress will complete the outfit: the crown is made from feathers, which can also be cut out of bottles and attached to a hoop.
Another version of the mermaid costume requires stocking up on 20-25 bottles of blue, light blue or white flowers. You will also need scissors, Moment glue and nail polish.
The costume is made by cutting out oval-shaped scales from waste plastic material: scales of 6-8 cm in size are suitable for the skirt, and 4-6 cm for the bodice. Each element is varnished to give shine. The details are glued or sewn onto an old dress, imitating fish scales. The outfit can be complemented with a train made of light fabric, also decorated with scales.
Cut out flower petals from bottles, glue 3 pieces together, and attach to a hoop. Such a wreath will become a beautiful headdress for a mermaid.
From the newspapers
A costume made from waste material (newspapers) will attract the attention of children and adults. For a girl, you can make a long fluffy skirt and a beautiful large collar from old printed publications. Newspaper decor should be attached to a base - an old or sewn skirt made of thin fabric, a wire frame.
The newspaper sheets are rolled into a cone shape, and the joint is glued to give strength. For a fluffy skirt for a girl 100-120 cm tall, 60-80 blanks are required. The newspaper pieces are attached to the skirt, starting from the hem. The upper tiers overlap the lower ones, creating volume.
Newspapers are sewn or glued onto the bodice. A lush collar can be made by folding 15-20 newspapers and cutting out a semicircle. It must be secured to the bodice. The collar can also be made from newspapers folded into a bag or accordion.
A modern, simple option is to make a ballerina outfit from newspapers. A cute ballet tutu can be made by folding each newspaper to a length of 30-40 cm, then forming an accordion out of it. To calculate the number of parts, you need to measure the child's waist. The prepared newspaper accordions are sewn onto an elastic band.
A skirt can be made in a similar way, if the newspapers are slightly pressed, giving them shape, and sewn or stapled onto an elastic band, forming tiers. Dresses with newspapers sewn onto the base, gathered into a circle like an accordion, look original. The middle is decorated with a bright element (a bead, a pompom, a crumpled plastic cup).
From cardboard boxes
Every boy dreams of becoming a dinosaur. It is easy to fulfill his dream – just take 2 boxes. One box should correspond to the height and volume of the child, it will play the role of the dinosaur’s body. Slots are made in it for the head and arms.
The second box is used to construct the dinosaur's head and mouth: to do this, the box is cut in half, one half is glued to the body with the cut part facing outward, and the other half is used to model the head.
They stick on it:
- 2 toilet paper rolls in the middle - these will be the eyes of the animal;
- teeth (triangles cut out of cardboard) are placed along the bottom of the box;
- circles are placed on the sides - ears.
This part of the box is attached to the top of the structure. The back is decorated with paper teeth. The box is painted or covered with colored paper of the desired shade (green, blue, brown).
Another option for a funny costume for a boy made of boxes is a robot. For this outfit, you will need 2 boxes of different sizes: one smaller one for the head, the other larger one for the body. In the smaller box, cut out a hole for the face, in the larger one, make slits for the arms and legs. Glue the boxes together.
At the last stage of work, cardboard boxes are decorated with materials that can be found at home. You can cover them with foil, add CDs, draw a scale, a remote control and buttons. Ears-antennas are attached to the upper part of the costume from bright plastic cups.
Flashlights, colored pompoms, and construction set elements will come in handy. It's easy to make sleeves, leg warmers, or robot pants from a corrugated foil pipe.
Using the same scheme, an outfit imitating a mobile phone is made from boxes.
Cardboard boxes can be easily transformed into an astronaut suit, just cover them with foil, in this case foil-coated corrugated pipes will also come in handy. Another box will become a rocket pack, onto which you need to glue 2 plastic bottles painted silver. Flames cut out of colored paper are glued to the bottle caps.
Cardboard boxes will also come in handy for a cowboy costume on a horse. You will need 2 boxes. One will become the horse's body, and 2 holes are cut in it: on top for the child's body, on the bottom for his legs.
A tail made of ropes is glued to the box. A horse's face is made from the second box: eyes, ears, mouth are drawn or glued on, a mane is a must. The two boxes are connected with a small stick. A strap is attached to the lower box-body, which is thrown over the baby's shoulder.
In a similar way, you can make cars out of boxes - an ambulance, a fire engine or a police car, a helicopter and an airplane, in which case the child will portray the driver or pilot.
From the packages
A costume made from scrap material is easy to make using colored plastic garbage bags. You will need 5 bags with a capacity of 35 liters to make a Batman costume for a boy. The basis of the original outfit will be tights, a T-shirt or shorts in black.
Progress of work:
- 4 bags are cut and connected into a rectangular sheet with tape.
- The edges need to be cut out in a decorative pattern so that the cloak resembles the wings of a bat.
- Cut 4 ribbons 5-7 cm wide from the bag. Make loops from 2 ribbons and fasten them in the shoulder area – with their help the cloak will be held on the child. Place 2 ribbons on the edges of the improvised wings and tie them on the baby’s wrists.
- A Batman mask is cut out of the bag and ties are made.
- All that remains is to draw or print out the superhero emblem and stick it on the chest and back.
Using colored bags, you can make a Papuan or bloodthirsty savage costume. To do this, cut strips up to 10 cm wide from yellow or green bags, fold them in half, and throw them over an elastic band, the length of which is equal to the child's waist plus 40-50 cm for ties.
The plastic strips are tied on an elastic band and pushed tightly together, forming a fluffy skirt. The length of the finished product is determined on the baby, the savage skirt usually barely reaches the knees. A necklace of the same material can be made for the neck or beads can be added. A spear made of cardboard will do as a savage weapon.
From multi-colored bags you can quickly model a variety of costumes for girls.
Option 1. Flower Fairy. You need to take 1 colored bag with handles for the base and several bright bags for decoration. Cut out petals from plastic of one color, and flower centers from another color. Assemble flowers from them by gluing the elements. Cut off the bottom of the base bag, leaving handles (they will serve as hangers).
Flowers are glued to the resulting improvised dress. The same decorations can be placed on a hoop or wreath. Another way to make flowers is to roll up strips of plastic into cones and secure with tape or a stapler. In this case, you can combine colors, combining 2-3 types of bags in one flower.
A dress made from a bag can be lengthened by using tape to attach a piece of plastic gathered into flounces to the hem.
Option 2. Ice cream.You will need garbage bags of 2 colors. Each is cut to obtain a rectangular panel, from which a skirt and a bodice are modeled. 10-15 garbage bags with a volume of 20 l are inflated with air, tied and fixed on the skirt. From the same inflated bags you can make a lush "Tudor" collar.
Option 3. Snowflake.For work you will need blue bags, 15-20 pieces will do. The bags are cut into rectangles, if there are ties or handles, they are cut off.
8-10 panels are needed to model a fluffy skirt. The edges of the panels can be cut out in a fancy way, the top is gathered with an elastic band or tape, and can be fixed to a finished skirt.
Some of the prepared panels are cut into rectangles of a height equal to the distance from the shoulder to the child's waist. These parts are also gathered on an elastic band and attached to the bodice, which can be made from an uncut bag.
A costume made from scrap material can be decorated with white fluffy pom-poms, snowflakes cut out of paper or foil, blue and white glitter, and foil balls.
Option 4. Sorceress or forest beauty.You will need 10 to 30 bags (depending on the style and length you have in mind) of the same color. Some of the bags are cut into strips 8-15 cm wide, the strips are gathered on an elastic band. There can be many variations of this skirt: it can be made long or short, with a train, multi-tiered and multi-colored.
For the bodice, take an uncut bag and throw it over your shoulder, it can also be decorated with different-sized or multi-colored stripes. The costume is complemented with flowers cut out of plastic or paper, glitter, and bright tinsel threads.
From disposable tableware
Another popular waste material is disposable tableware. To make a smart dress in Russian folk style, you will need disposable cups, as well as napkins of 2 colors and a garbage bag of one of the chosen shades.
To construct a voluminous skirt, you need to take 24-26 cups and connect them in pairs with a stapler or glue. Then the pairs are connected in a circle. The next tier will consist of a smaller number of cups - 22-24. Thus, it is necessary to make as many tiers as necessary depending on the child's height. A girl aged 5-7 will need 6-7 tiers for a skirt.
The tiers are connected with a stapler. To keep the skirt on the waist, you need to cut a strip from garbage bags, fasten it along the top tier, and let the ends out.
This skirt will make a bright impression if decorated. To do this, take napkins of 2 colors, cut out circles from them and put them in cups, alternating shades in tiers. You can fix the napkins in the cups with a stapler. A bodice made from a garbage bag or from flattened cups glued to the base will suit this skirt.
From packaging film
Every boy can become a knight if he has some wrapping film, laser discs or foil, a plastic bottle and foam plastic at home.
A chainmail is cut out of the packaging film: if the film is large, it is enough to cut a hole for the head, put it on the child and secure it with a bright belt or colored tape. If the film is small, then a piece of the required size is assembled with transparent tape.
A suit made from scrap material will complement the helmet, it is made from a 5-liter plastic bottle. After cutting off the bottom, the top of the bottle is painted with silver paint, a nose guard made of foil is glued on, and an occipital guard can also be made from foil.
A shiny shield can be made by gluing laser discs on a cardboard base, overlapping them; 13-15 pieces are enough. The sword can be cut out of foam plastic.
Wrapping film will come in handy if the kid decides to become a wizard or an astronomer. To do this, cut out a cloak of the required size from the film. In this case, wrapping film can be replaced with gold foil or wrapping paper.
The cape will be held in place by ties in the neck area, which can be sewn on with large stitches by hand or glued. Decorative elements cut out of foil, colored paper, or bright self-adhesive film are glued to the cape - stars, the moon, comets. The cap can be made of cardboard, rolled into a cone, glued together, and painted.
From cotton pads
Fluffy white cotton pads will come in handy if the child wants to be a snowflake, a snowman or a polar bear. The difference in the costumes is in the details, the base is made of cotton pads.
The round elements are gathered on a strong thread (they can be folded in half or left unfolded, fluffed up). Then the front and back parts of the suit are formed from the set strips, which are fastened together with threads. You can also sew strips of cotton pads onto a white T-shirt and shorts.
If the baby wants to be a snowman, make him a white hat with a pompom and a bright nose from cardboard or foam sponge. A crown will do for the snowflake image, and a polar bear will need ears - they can be made from cotton pads and attached to a hair band.
From candy wrappers
A dress made from candy wrappers will turn a girl into a candy princess or a queen of sweets.
To make such an outfit you will need:
- 4 bright foil balloons;
- foil candy wrappers;
- foil;
- Velcro.
Each foil balloon is covered with candy wrappers with the shiny side outward - this makes 2 halves of the skirt. They are sewn together, with Velcro or elastic sewn on top. The other 2 balloons are also used to make the bodice. The skirt and bodice are decorated with balloons made from twisted foil.
Helpful Tips for Making a Costume from Scrap Material
In any improvised costume, the main thing is the child's good mood and his understanding of the general concept. The child must be aware of who he is portraying and play along.
It’s good if the child immediately likes the proposed costume idea and takes part in its creation.
- When preparing an outfit, you should remember the age characteristics and character of your child. For some kids, an abundance of bright small details on a play costume can become a strong temptation to tear them off and swallow them.
- Whatever the idea of the parents making the costume, the most important thing is the child's comfort. If it is uncomfortable, pinches or presses, then the baby will not experience joy from the holiday.
- Paper clips, pins, and sharp paper edges should not injure the skin.
- It is important to remember that a child should not be in clothes made from non-breathable materials, such as film or bags, for too long.
A costume made from scrap material does not require financial, but time-consuming expenses. However, it pays off with the opportunity to communicate and play with the baby. The play costume created together will become a point of communication, and the photos taken at the party will long remind you of the time spent together.
Video about making the costume
Master class: dress from waste material for a girl: