How to Make an Easy Teddy Bear Halloween Costume for Your Toddler

One year I wanted to do something really original for my two children for Halloween. I didn't want to buy store bought outfits for them, and wanted to stay within a theme. They were both very young, two and four, and I didn't have time to sew anything elaborate. After racking my brain for several hours I came up with an idea that not only looked adorable, but the kids loved it, and they even won a prize for their original outfits.

Essentially I made my two little children (two year old girl four year old boy) into the three little bears. I dressed my two children up to look like teddy bears, and then had my little girl carry a small teddy bear as the baby bear.

Making the Outfit

I went to the thrift store and found an extra large teddy bear. I tried to find the biggest one I could find. I found one that cost me about five dollars. That was all I had to buy to make both costumes. I also bought face paint to carry on with the idea, but you can do it without the face paint.

When I got the teddy bear home I cut the feet off at the ankles, both the top paws and the bottom paws. The larger feet were for my oldest child to wear as shoes, and the smaller ones for my youngest. I took out all of the stuffing, and poked holes through the tops so that I could run ribbon through it and tie it snug on their legs so the paws wouldn't come off.

I dressed my son in a pair of overalls with a long sleeved plaid shirt. I cut off the the teddy bear's ears and safety pinned one ear to the back of his overalls as a tail. I put my daughter in a pair of pants with a long sleeved dress. The pants covered over the tops of the teddy bear shoes to make her feet look like paws, and I pinned the other ear to the back of her dress as her tail.

Next, I cut four triangles from the teddy bear I had bought at the thrift store. I cut these pieces essentially the same size as half of a sandwich. I took the top of each triangle and folded it down, then folded the other two corners in. I safety pinned these to the tops of two hats to make ears. My daughter wore a small straw hat and my son wore a baseball cap.

Finally, I measured my children's wrists and cut fabric from the original teddy bear to cover their wrists and the tops of their hands to make them look hairy.

I added little black bear noses and whiskers with face paint. You can get more elaborate with the face paint too, and color their whole face too... I kept mine to a minimum, however, to keep them from rubbing it off.