Cardboard Halloween Costumes, and Other Fun Crafts to Make with Your Kids

Maybe you’ve started to think about Halloween. Maybe your kids are begging you to make some elaborate costume for them and you can’t image how you could possibly have time. But it doesn’t have to be incredibly complicated. Maker John Gleeson Connoly has been making cardboard costumes for his kids for years, and he shares some of his strategies in the video below. Plus, find ideas for lots of other fun crafts to make with your kids.

Cardboard costumes don’t have to be super time-consuming to make… and the possibilities are nearly endless.

In this video, John shares a technique for making a pirate key from a piece of plywood, but you could use this process to make nearly anything — like accessories for your cardboard costume. Will you make a sword, a wand, a pirate hook? The sky’s the limit.

And finally, instructions for a fun little toy you can make in an afternoon. Get your kids involved and they’ll have a toy they made themselves, and a little more know-how about how things work, too.

Thanks for watching, and happy crafting!

• The Star: John Gleeson Connolly is an actor, contractor and object maker who lives with his family in Los Angeles in the construction site they call home. We also recommend John’s How to Build a Hammered Light and Making a Cypher Wheel.