My three year old daughter loves the story We’re Going on a Bear Hunt. She will lead all of the kids from church (even up to 10 years old) on bear hunts through the building. When I asked her what she wanted to be for Halloween, she said she wanted to be bear. Being a fickle three year old, she also listed several other things. But bear was what she said the most consistently. So, I went on my own hunt for bear DIY costume materials for her and her little brother.
I started gathering materials and figuring out my plan a month or so in advance. And then life happened and suddenly it was Halloween morning and we had no bear costumes. I say this to make two points. First, save yourself the stress and make your kid’s costume before Halloween morning. Second, me saying this is a quick and easy costume isn’t a stretch. I was able to make both costumes in an hour or two in time to rush the kids to a library trick or treat that morning.
The other fun thing about these costumes, is they are super adaptable. I made them as no-sew costumes, but you can just as easily sew them together to be more durable. I made them for a one and a three year old. But, using the same steps you can make one for an adult or even a pet (just make sure it’s safe).
How to Make a Bear DIY Costume
Materials:
- Dark brown hoodie
- Light brown felt sheet
- Temporary double sided fabric tape or sewing supplies
- Cardboard (the thin cereal box kind)
- Brown paint
- Hot glue
- Brown gloves (or any color gloves and brown paint)
- White foam sheet
- Black face painting crayon
Making the Bear Body:
A brown hoodie is going to be the base of your bear DIY costume. I initially was going to find cheap ones at a thrift store, but couldn’t find ones in the right sizes. Instead, I found these adorable hoodies from Walmart. Since I paid a little more for them and I liked them so much, I changed gears and made everything temporary. This way, after Halloween, I took off all the “bear parts” and had cute matching brown jackets for my kids. I already had brown pants for one of them, and bought a pair for the other. I didn’t “bearify” the pants in any way, so they still wear them too.
To make the bear body, you will need light brown felt. I cut an oval that took up the majority of the front of the hoodie for each costume. To make it temporary, I used double sided fabric tape to stick it on. I tested the tape first on the bottom inside of one of the jackets to make sure I could peel it off afterwards. I initially only put pieces of tape on each corner, but my son started ripping at it as soon as I tried it on him. So, I ended up taping all the way around it to prevent him from getting a good grip on it.
Making the Bear Ears:
Now that I finished the body, I needed to make the ears. First, I cut out four (2 for each costume) half circle ear shapes from a cereal box. Then, I cut out a rectangle for each one that was the same width as the ears. Lastly, I painted them dark brown and glued smaller half circles of felt onto them with hot glue.
After finishing the ear pieces, I put it all together. I hot glued the rectangle bases to the ears and then used my fabric tape to attach them to the hoodie hoods.
Making the Bear Paws:
When I thought up these costumes, I didn’t intend to make paws. But, the night before Halloween my logical side kicked in and I realized it was going to be cold. A bear in winter gloves was going to look silly, and bear paws would look super cool. So, I frantically looked up brown kid’s gloves that I could buy. Early afternoon on Halloween I went to buy them, and while they showed as in stock they didn’t actually exist. Thankfully, we had some pink thin gloves laying around that I didn’t care about.
I tried dyeing them which didn’t work, so I ended up painting them with brown paint. They probably weren’t the most comfy gloves. But, with time running out, they worked just fine. After painting the gloves brown, I cut claw shapes from a piece of white foam. I hot glued one claw to each glove finger. Besides keeping my kid’s hands warm, I think that they ended up being the cutest part of the costume. I didn’t realize until we got home from trick or treating that my 1 year old was chewing on his the whole time.
Bear DIY Costume Finishing Touches:
The bearified hoodies, pants, and paws finished off the bear DIY costume, but my little bears still needed some finishing touches. I used a black face painting crayon to draw noses on their faces. Then we practiced saying trick or treat, thank you, and growling like bears.
Conclusion of Making a Bear DIY Costume
For making so much of this costume last minute, I think it turned out really cute. It was really simple besides the few things that I made hard on myself by not giving myself enough time. Both of my kids really enjoyed being bears. And we are able to reuse the jackets and pants in our regular non-bear lives. If you make this for your kid, let me know in the comments how much they love it.
Make sure to check out these fun Halloween crafts you can do with your child. Or if your kid’s lovey needs a costume too, take a look at this easy lovey worm costume.
Those are really cute.