Top 5 Unique Halloween Costumes for Kids in 2009

With Halloween fast approaching and your kids longing to have the best costume ever, you may find yourself wracking your brain for unique costume ideas to help your little ones stand out (without hours of work or breaking the bank) in a crowd for Halloween 2009! Since nearly every costume idea is marketed like crazy, and all of their favorite cartoon characters will be out in multiples (available in a variety of places from Walgreens to the Saturday market), making your own and adding your child's personality to it is a good bet to make their costume unique.

Royalty. If your child naturally demands attention, why not play into their personality by acknowledging your little princes and princesses. You will simply need their Sunday best or dress up clothes combined with cardboard or cheap plastic crowns and a little bling. If your boys aren't digging the their princely persona they could always go as a manly knight (cardboard armor and swords are always entertaining). If you arer concerned your princesses will be one among dozens, simply have them be the princess of something specific. I remember feeling pretty good as a princess, until my best friend showed up as princess of the Daisy Kingdom (complete with a Daisy Kingdom dress). The options are endless: fairy princess, princess of the butterflies, princess and the pea, etc. are all fun and easy.

Food. Dressing as your favorite snack food is a fun and unique way to stand out this Halloween. Be very careful with this one though; Twinkie might be a cute nickname in middle school, but it gets old by your Junior year of high school . . . trust me, I know. Use your good judgment; costumes can be scary for your child's reputation. Fruit is a fun food to go as. Simply wear a sweat suit, dress, leotard and tights in matching colors and tuck some foliage behind the ears. You can easily make an orange, and apple, or a carrot.

Box it up. Old appliance boxes make awesome (although uncomfortable) Halloween costumes. If your child loves his PS2, have him decorate a box to look like a game console. Just remember to put comfortable arm and head holes in the box . . . Halloween is a lot more fun without injuries.

Hobby. If you have an aspiring actress, dancer, equestrian, karate kid, football player or pageant queen, you probably already have the gear for this one. Let them wear their full regalia. At least you know they like their costume. It also gives them an opportunity to show off their hobbies to their friends.

Old fashioned fun. Witches, ghosts, and ghouls are so passé these days. Power Rangers and Barbie have taken over. But a good old fashioned scary costume can be cheap, easy, and fun! Take advantage of all of the glow in the dark accessories that are on the market today. A simple sheet ghost costume looks really cool with eerie green light reflecting off of it.

If your child wants to be unique this year, making their costume can be a fun experience for them, and will help guarantee a unique costume. Make sure your child helps make the artistic decisions, because it will help convince them that they do not need the store bought version. Have a safe and Happy Halloween.