Homemade Costume Ideas for Wheelchair Bound Kids
Inexpensive and Easy Halloween Costumes for Disabled Children
Sep 30, 2009
During Halloween and for costume parties, children often dress in costume. Costumes often have decorative clothing and accessories, such as headwear, swords, wands and the like that are carried by the children in costume. However, for a variety of reasons, many costumes and accessories cannot be used by many children who are wheelchair bound.
Many children who are wheelchair bound rest their heads against the back support of the wheelchair. This is especially true with younger children who are short or those requiring neck and head support.
Furthermore, many children in wheelchairs need their arms to control the wheelchair, either directly or through electronic controls. For that reason, many such children cannot carry accessories in their hands.
In addition, many wheelchair bound children also have specialized clothing that enables them to more readily use sanitary facilities or accommodate medical equipment. Many commercial costumes lack the proper structure and thus cannot be worn.
Fun and Inexpensive Costume Ideas
Most any costume can be turned into a wheelchair friendly costume. Here are just a few costume ideas that incorporate the wheelchair into the costume:
- Engineer and Train Costume: The engineer and train costume makes a great Halloween craft for wheelchair bound children. A couple of cardboard boxes, paint, overalls and an engineer’s cap is all that is needed to create this costume.
- TV Host/News Anchor: Using a cardboard box, create a news anchor desk. Once completed, attach it to the front of the wheelchair. Don’t forget to include the logo for the television news station on the front of the desk. Allow the child to dress up as his/her favourite television personality.
- King or Queen: It’s easy to turn a wheelchair into a throne for a king or queen by simply adding some painted pillars (gold or silver) to the top of the wheelchair.This can be done using a large piece of cardboard painted gold or silver. Fake plastic gems, beads or glitter can also be added for an extra flare.
- Car/Truck Wheelchair Costume: Using cardboard, create a car/truck of the child’s choice. The vehicle can also be painted the colour of the child’s choice as well.
- Rocket Ship: Using a cardboard box, tin foil and paint, create a rocket ship. Children can also create a name for their rocket ship and place the name on the side of their rocket ship.
Make the Wheelchair Part of the Costume
The possibilities are endless. Other creative ideas include:
- Robot
- Box of popcorn or favourite snack food
- Flower garden
- Hippie
- Magician
- Dracula
- Superman
- Pumpkin
- Jack-in-the-box
- Cinderella (decorate the wheelchair as her coach)
For children with a condition requiring them to use a wheelchair, finding a good Halloween Costume can be a challenge. However, with a little creativity children in wheelchairs have the chance to not only "dress up" in costumes but to actively participate in Halloween festivities with their peers.
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