Posted: October 22, 2014
Building a costume that incorporates a child’s wheelchair is a fun and clever way to ensure inclusion and acceptance. Halloween is the perfect opportunity for families to get creative with a child and his or her wheelchair.
In an interview with the Today show, Cassandra Byrd said, “Sometimes, a wheelchair is a barrier to being social with other children,” noting that young kids could be overwhelmed or intimidated by her children’s large wheelchairs. “With a cool costume, it takes away the barrier. “Instead of staring in confusion or fixating on the wheelchair,” she said, “they’re fixated on the entire scene, the whole picture.”
In this blog post, we highlight ten wheelchair costumes that you could make this Halloween.
Thomas the Tank Engine Wheelchair Costume
Thomas the Tank Engine is a simple Halloween costume that will work for both power and manual wheelchairs. Using many easy-to-find items like poster board, paint, permanent marker, and Halloween spider web or cotton, this is a fun and easy costume to make. Visit this link to Wheelchair Costumes for the full list of materials and instructions.
Mario Kart Wheelchair Costume
For a child that loves video games, how about a Mario costume, complete with a go kart? To make this costume, simply cut wheels out of cardboard, paint them, and attach to the exterior of your child’s wheelchair. The whole family can join in on this wheelchair costume, as there are many Mario characters for the whole family to dress up as.
Front Loader Wheelchair Costume
This costume is great for children who like Bob the Builder. The costume in this picture was constructed with cardboard and paper tubes. Visit this link to Wheelchair Costumes for the full list of materials. Don’t limit yourself with front loaders though – check out various types of construction equipment and get creative!
Batmobile Wheelchair Costume
For fans of Batman, this fun Batmobile costume was constructed out of cardboard and made out of styrofoam and construction paper. Visit this link to Wheelchair Costumes for the full list of materials and instructions.
Wall-E Wheelchair Costume
For children who are fans of Disney and for parents who are especially craft, this impressive Wall-E costume can be difficult to put together but it will sure get everyone talking. Visit Chez PLJ‘s blog for details.
Pirate Ship Wheelchair Costume
For a child that loves pirates, a pirate in a ship costume may be the costume. Your family can also join in and dress up as a large band of scallywags!
Superman Wheelchair Costume
Every CP Miracle has the resilience and bravery of Superman. For Halloween, let your child channel their inner superpowers with this fun Superman costume. Visit Wheelchair Costumes for instructions and the list of materials.
Scooby Doo Mystery Machine Wheelchair Costume
Using a PVC pipe, refrigerator sized cardboard, and metal cake pans, this Mystery Machine costume from Scooby Doo is an impressive way to incorporate a child’s wheelchair and get the whole family dressed up.
Astronaut and Spaceship Wheelchair Costume
3…2…1…blast off! This astronaut Halloween costume with a spaceship is an easy one to make, using just cardboard, toilet paper holders, paint, and other household items. Get the instructions and list of materials on Wheelchair Costume’s blog.
Darth Vader TIE Fighter Wheelchair Costume
This costume is one of our favorites. A child can wear any Darth Vader costume, while the TIE fighter can be easily constructed using cardboard and black paint.
We would love to see your child’s costume for Halloween! We invite you to share your photos with our Facebook community.
For inspiration and resources, contact the MyChild™ Call Center.
