31 Family Halloween Costumes: DIY Ideas for Every Age

If you’re on the hunt for family Halloween costume ideas, you’ve come to the right place. I love coming up with a different theme for our family every single year, and as our crew grows, it somehow gets even more fun. Some years, we go all-in on DIY, crafting costumes from scratch with hot glue and a little imagination, and other years, we mix in store-bought pieces to save time (and sanity). In this post, I’m sharing our favorite themed family costumes from over the years, along with plenty of other fun ideas for families, no matter the size.

DIY Family Costume Ideas You Can Make at Home

Fair warning, a lot of our family costumes over the years have been DIY. Making costumes at home is such a fun, budget-friendly way to create something totally unique. And you don’t need to be a seamstress to pull it off because there are so many family Halloween costumes you can make with just a little creativity and a hot glue gun.

Caveman Family Halloween Costumes

Last year’s cave family Halloween costume was such a hoot. The kids went all in on their characters, and it made the whole thing even more fun. A little animal print fabric, some faux fur, and a few props like giant bones, necklaces and hair clips, and a beard-and-wig combo for my husband, and we were set.

I can’t stress enough how easy these costumes were to make. I’m not a professional seamstress by any stretch, and I put these together in an afternoon. Caveman family costumes don’t need to be perfect. In fact, the rougher they look, the better. It’s the perfect DIY family costume for any size crew. For the full step-by-step instructions on how I made ours, check out the full post – Easy DIY Caveman Costumes for the Whole Family.

Ultra-Simple DIY Family Costume Ideas

If you want to go the homemade route but keep things super simple, here are a few DIY family costume ideas that you can throw together with items you might already have at home.

• Scarecrow family – Overalls, plaid shirts, floppy hats, and a little face paint for stitched smiles.
• Mummies – White clothing wrapped in strips of torn fabric or gauze.
• Garden gnomes – Tall felt hats, suspenders, and white beards made from cotton batting.
• Tourists – Hawaiian shirts, sunglasses, fanny packs, and props like a camera or map.
• Emoji faces – Yellow T-shirts with different black felt facial expressions for each family member.

Food-Themed Family Halloween Costumes

Food-themed family costumes are always a hit, and they work for all ages. They’re colorful, easy to recognize, and can be as simple or over-the-top as you want. From breakfast favorites to sweet treats, here are some of our tastiest costume ideas.

Balloon Grapes (5-Minute Hack)

For our grape costumes, I blew up a bunch of wine-red and green balloons and safety-pinned them all over. To finish the look, I cut out leaves from green felt and pinned them right at the neckline. We stuck to two colors of grapes, but you could easily mix in different shades of green, purple, and red for more family members. Or, add other fruit costumes to the mix and turn your crew into one big fruity bunch.

Breakfast-Themed Family Costume

Is there anything better than bacon, eggs, and toast? This breakfast-themed family costume is such an easy DIY. The toast is painted foam board hung with string, the bacon is made from two colors of felt with a little hot glue holding it together, and the egg is simply a yellow T-shirt with a white foam board cut in the shape of an egg. My pregnant belly made the perfect yolk that year, but you could just as easily paint the center of the foam board yellow if you’re not rocking a bump.

Reuse & Repurpose: Turn Breakfast into a BLT

When it comes to our family Halloween costumes, I love to reuse and repurpose. The toast and bacon from our breakfast-themed family costume later became the makings of a BLT. For the tomato, I used red felt to create a tomato slice and hot glued it to a white long-sleeved shirt. The lettuce was just crumpled green tissue paper glued to some toddler jammies. So easy! Family Halloween costumes can be surprisingly inexpensive when you use a little imagination.

Candy & Sweet Treats

This was definitely a sweet year. I went all in on the crafting for this one, making a lollipop, a felt donut, cotton candy, and for my costume, a candy necklace made of pool noodles. For the detailed how-to instructions on this sweet family costume idea, check out the full post here – Sweet Treats and Candy Costumes for the Family.

More Food-Themed Group Costumes

• S’mores – Graham crackers, chocolate bars, and a marshmallow.
• Hot dog stand – Hot dogs, ketchup and mustard, and a vintage-style waiter.
• Fast Food Mascots & Logos – Dress the whole family as your favorite fast food icons. Think Ronald McDonald, the Burger King, Colonel Sanders, Wendy from Wendy’s, the Chick-fil-A cow, a Starbucks barista, or even a Taco Bell hot sauce packet. The mix of characters makes it instantly recognizable and super fun for photos.
• PB&J sandwich – Two people as bread slices, one “peanut butter” and one “jelly,” plus milk or a banana. (Sidenote… banana dog costumes are adorable!)
• Watermelon slices – Bright pink and green outfits with black “seed” dots.

Barnyard Family Costume Ideas

We loved the barnyard family costume so much that we’ve done it twice — once for our first baby’s very first Halloween, and again when we were a family of five. This family costume idea is easy to scale up for even the biggest crew. I DIYed the chicken, cow, and sheep costumes for the kids, and Mom and Dad just dressed as farmers using plaid shirts and denim straight from our closets. Easy peasy. A basic straw hat really seals the deal.

Out of the Box Family Costume Ideas

While I love a classic costume like our barnyard family, it’s always fun to dream up something a little more unexpected. The kind of costume you don’t see on every porch come Halloween night. These ideas are unique, playful, and perfect for families who like to think outside the box.

Weather Costumes (Cloudy, Rainy, Windy, Lightning)

This DIY family costume idea is totally unique. We were the weather! For “Cloudy,” I hot-glued polyfill to a white onesie and headband. “Lightning” was a simple lightning bolt cut from yellow foam board. “Rainy” was an umbrella covered with more polyfill to make a cloud, blue foam board raindrops hanging down, plus my raincoat and boots. And “Windy” was the cutest! An umbrella turned inside-out, windblown hair and outfit, and a grocery ad stuck in place for good measure.

I have to give you a close-up of the wind costume because the group photo doesn’t do it justice. Look at that hair! Look at that umbrella! Such a fun costume. Other weather-related characters that can easily be DIYed to add to the bunch include sunny, tornado, snowflakes, rainbow, hailstorm, and even a weather reporter with a microphone. Such a great group costume idea.

More Fun and Unique Family Halloween Costumes

If you really want to surprise people with something totally unexpected, these out-of-the-box family costume ideas will be a hit. They are unique, clever, and guaranteed to stand out in a sea of superheroes and princesses.

• Campers and bears – Half the family in PJs holding marshmallow roasting sticks, the others in bear onesies.
• Board game night – Monopoly, Clue, Candy Land, Twister – dress to represent your fave game.
• Circus troupe – Ringmaster, acrobat, clown, strongman, and lion.
• Seasons of the year – Spring flowers, summer beachwear, autumn leaves, and winter snow.
• Galaxy theme – Sun, moon, planets, and shooting stars.

Character Inspired Family Costume Ideas

As a homeschool family, we spend a lot of time reading together and listening to audiobooks, so dressing up as characters we love will always be a hit in our house. Book and movie inspired family costume ideas are such a fun way to bring favorite stories to life, whether it’s a timeless classic, a childhood favorite, or the latest blockbuster your kids just can’t stop talking about.

Harry Potter Family Costume Ideas

We’ve been reading through the Harry Potter books with our kids, and obsessed might be an understatement. With so many great characters, it makes an easy family Halloween costume for any size crew. In this photo, we have Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, Professor McGonagall, Luna Lovegood, Dobby, and baby Hedwig. This was not a major DIY year. We purchased almost everything. Check out my full post for links to all the pieces and details for these costumes – Harry Potter Family Costumes for Halloween.

Side note: If you’re a Harry Potter fan, you’ll love my floating candle decor. They’re battery-operated taper candles with a magic wand remote that turns them on and off! Seriously amazing. Head here for the full how-to on this magical decor project.

Other Book and Movie Character Family Costumes

If you love the idea of bringing favorite stories to life, there’s no shortage of inspiration. Here are a few more book and movie character costumes for a family, that would be just as fun to wear as they are to plan.

• Little House on the Prairie – Ma, Pa, Mary, Laura, and Carrie Ingalls. (Aprons and bonnets with thrift store dresses will make this one a cinch).
• Charlie and the Chocolate Factory – Willy Wonka, Charlie Bucket, Oompa-Loompas, Veruca Salt, Violet Beauregarde, Mike Teavee… so many fun characters.
• Peter Pan – Peter, Wendy, Captain Hook, Tinker Bell, Lost Boys, and the crocodile.
• The Wizard of Oz – Dorothy, Scarecrow, Tin Man, Cowardly Lion, Glinda, Wicked Witch, flying monkeys, The Munchkins.
• Alice in Wonderland – Alice, Mad Hatter, Queen of Hearts, White Rabbit, Cheshire Cat.
• Mary Poppins – Mary Poppins, Bert, Jane, Michael, penguin waiters.
• The Lord of the Rings – Frodo, Sam, Gandalf, Aragorn, Legolas, Gimli, Galadriel.

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FAQs – 31 Family Halloween Costumes and Ideas