How to Make a Quick and Easy Dinosaur Costume

This person has used a purple sweatsuit to make a Barney costume.

Whether you are attending a costume party or taking part in a school play, dinosaurs inevitably attract lots of positive attention because of their scientific qualities and their colorful physiognomies. However, many dinosaur-costume patterns require a great deal of sewing and can take a long time to make. In this article, we will tell how to make a quick and easy dinosaur costume.

Difficulty:

Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need

• Cardboard
• Scissors
• Purple spray paint
• Green spray paint
• Green sweatpants
• Green hooded sweatshirt
• Green knit gloves
• White felt
• Black felt
• Yarn
• Plastic yarn needle
• Craft glue
• Old pair of tennis shoes

How to Make a Quick and Easy Dinosaur Costume

1. The stegosaurus had large plates on its back. You are creating this effect with cardboard.

   Cut six large triangles and 16 small triangles out of cardboard. The large triangles will be back scales and the small triangles will be claws.

2. Spray paint both sides of all the triangles purple. (Do this outside to protect furniture and clothing.)

3. Spray paint the old tennis shoes green. These will be your dino-feet.

4. Cut two large circles and 10 small triangles out of the white felt. These will be used to make the dinosaur's eyes and teeth.

5. You can cut out circles in additional colors and glue them onto the sweatsuit to give your dinosaur spots.

   Cut two smaller circles out of the black felt.

6. Glue the black circles onto the white circles. Now you have two big dinosaur eyes.

7. Glue the dinosaur eyes onto each side of the hood. When you pull the hood over your head, it will look as if the dinosaur has a green head with big eyes.

8. If you are really in a hurry, just top the costume off with a dinosaur mask instead of turning the hood into a dinosaur head.

   Glue the white triangles across the top of the hood's face hole to make teeth. You can glue them so they fall across the forehead or run along either side of the hood under the eyes.

9. Thread the yarn through the needle. Use a long piece of yarn, since you will be sewing the cardboard scales with it.

10. Sew the large purple triangles down the back of the sweatshirt. Start at the top of the hood and work your way down. Use looping stitches through the base of the triangle to hold the scales in place. They may be a little floppy, but that's O.K. The tighter the stitches, the better the scales will stand up.

11. Glue a small triangle to the top of each finger on the green knit gloves. These are the dinosaur claws.

12. Glue three small purple triangles to the top of the green tennis shoes. These will become dinosaur feet.

13. Put on the entire costume. Make sure the paint is dry. You will need to pull the hood over your head and tie it to prevent the dinosaur's head from coming off. If you want, you can paint your face green with makeup to match the rest of your dino-skin, or you can leave it your natural color. Now you are ready to roar and rampage with the best of them!

Tips & Warnings

• You can customize the costume by stuffing a roll of green felt and sewing it on to be the tail, or by adding a posterboard fan around the face. However, these features add a significant amount of time and effort to making the costume.

Resources

• Read this Article in Spanish