When it comes to kids' Halloween costumes, I've often taken the DIY approach. We've had some great success with these easy kids' costumes ideas, using some creativity and purchasing a few kids' costume accessories.
But sometimes, lack of time or a child's very specific idea for a Halloween costume, makes buying the whole thing the way to go. If Halloween 2012 is one of those years, look here for what are sure to be popular Halloween costumes for kids this year.
The Dark Knight
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Batman is always a popular kids costume, and The Dark Knight Rises just adds to the phenomenon. And with Catwoman (Shop Now)playing a role in this movie, she will be a popular costume for the girls this year.
Brave's Merida
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Katniss Everdeen of The Hunger Games
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The Avengers
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The great thing about The Avengers is there is so many superheroes to choose from. In fact, your whole family could pick a favorite and there you have an easy group Halloween costume! Choose from:
- Iron Man (Shop Now)
- Captain America (Shop Now)
- Thor (Shop Now)
- The Hulk (Shop Now)
- Black Widow (Shop Now)
- Hawkeye (Shop Now)
Harry Potter or Hermione Granger
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With the final Harry Potter movie, The Deathly Hallows, Part 2, debuting in 2011, there was an uptick in the number of the Harry Potter kids' costumes last year. And it's still likely to be popular. Kids' costumes based on the Harry Potter series have come a long way. Used to be all you could choose was a Harry or, for girls, a Hermione Granger costume (Shop Now). They were basically the same, a robe with a Gryffindor emblem. Now you can get a Hermione wig (Shop Now), but you can also choose from a lot more Harry Potter-themed costumes:
- Death Eater (Shop Now)
- Voldemort (Shop Now)
- Dementor (Shop Now)
- Dobby (Shop Now)
- Dumbledore (Shop Now)
Disney Princesses
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Disney princess costumes are perennial favorites so they are likely to remain popular for girls’ costumes for Halloween 2012. There are so many choices. One upside to purchasing Disney princess costumes is that they will get pulled out of the dress-up box for play on a regular basis.
- Sleeping Beauty (Shop Now)
- Snow White (Shop Now)
- Ariel (Shop Now)
- Belle (Shop Now)
- Cinderella (Shop Now)
- Jasmine (Shop Now)
And while not technically a princess, girls love fairies and Disney's Tinkerbell (Shop Now) is the undisputed queen of the fairies when it comes to kids costumes.
Star Wars
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Like Disney princesses, Star Wars costumes are always popular and will get used again in dress-up play. Also there are a lot of possible choices. But unlike Disney princesses, they can work well for both boys and girls.
- Darth Vader (Shop Now)
- Leia (Shop Now)
- Jedi (Shop Now)
- Ewok (Shop Now)
- Anakin (Shop Now)
- Darth Maul (Shop Now)
- Clone Trooper (Shop Now)
Thomas the Tank Engine
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This is another long-time favorite for little ones, though the movie and TV shows based on the the character are no longer popular. But Thomas the Tank Engine never goes out style for some kids. Little ones enjoy dressing up as their favorite engine as much as they enjoy building their fantasy (and elaborate train tracks!).
Toy Story 3
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Anything from Toy Story 3 is likely to be a hot Halloween kids' costume again. Of course, there are Woody outfits (Shop Now) and Buzz costumes (Shop Now), but there is a whole host of other Toy Story Halloween kids' costumes to choose from. There are:
- Jessie costumes (Shop Now)
- Bo Peep costumes (Shop Now)
- Alien costumes (Shop Now)
- Hamm costumes (Shop Now)
- Rex costumes (Shop Now)
Pirates of the Caribbean/Jack Sparrow
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Pirates have always been a popular Halloween costume. And easy too. All it really takes is the right costume hat and pirate costume accessories. But with the Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides movie, which came out in 2011, pirate costumes this year may still trend toward a more specific pirate, i.e. Jack Sparrow.
