2018 Halloween Costume Ideas for Kids and Teens

Halloween is just weeks away and you're still back at the drawing board for costume ideas? Here are a few places you can look for inspiration, including the best celebrity costumes, pop culture figures that would make great costumes, and, when all else fails, which foods make the best costume ideas!

Celebrity inspiration

2017 was a great year for celebrity costumes. While they had the means to sport professionally made costumes, you can take inspiration from their best looks and recreate them using your own ingenuity and creative spirit. Vanessa Hudgens, for example, looked cool in a tinsel wig and a hint of skeleton bones on a black outfit. The black and white makeup pulled her look together.

Wear a cool wig like Vanessa Hudgens

Camilla Mendes, on the other hand, went against her bad girl image as Ronnie on "Riverdale" to sport angelic wings over a sweet dress. To get her look, wear your most angelic, innocent outfit and top it with a pair of store-bought angel wings. Short on funds? Attach a white chenille (pipe cleaner) halo to a headband instead of the wings.

Copy Camilla Mendes and dress up like an angelCourtesy of Instagram

Formal wear, especially in black and white, doubles as a striking costume when you add something simple like a mask. Vanessa Hudgens and Austin Butler looked very chic when they went out on the town to celebrate. You can pull off this mysterious masquerade look by picking up an old, overly frilly evening gown and a pair of outdated tails (a long formal tuxedo coat) from a thrift shop, then picking up a simple mask from a dollar store.

Dress glam like Vanessa Hudgens and Austin ButlerCourtesy of Instagram

Sometimes, all it takes is a store-bought outfit and the right makeup to pull off a cool look. Heather Graham sported a little black dress with a skeleton overlay, but what completed her look was a day of the dead makeup job. And she's not the only one who caught onto this simple trend. Just check out David Pumpkins' sidekicks! 

Short on funds? Wear all black, then pick up a dollar-store cardboard skeleton cut-out. Dismantle the skellie and attach the individual pieces to your outfit using safety pins. Top off the makeup job with white-face makeup and black accents.

In 2017, Beyoncé and husband Jay-Z joined their daughter Blue Ivy in dressing up as Barbies - Barbie and Ken were accompanied by their little rock-star offspring, complete with microphone. Barbie and Ken work as costumes on so many levels, as you can embrace any of their hundreds of professions or eras, then wear a plastic, empty expression any time anyone wants to snap a pic!

Bey and Jay made Halloween a family affair in 2017, livin' the dream in a Barbie worldCourtesy of Beyonce via Instagram

Or dress as a celebrity!

If your Ariana Grande and Pete Davidson "Best Couple Award" costume fell through this week, we have some great alternatives for you!

Pete Davidson and Ariana Grande sadly recently called off their engagementCourtesy of MTV

Tonya Harding, the Olympic figure skater featured in the I, Tonya documentary this year, is a great costume. Just wear a sparkly figure skater costume with gold medals, a ponytail and giant 1980's curled bangs.

One (or all) of The Incredibles. Just when you forgot about that movie from when you were little, The Incredibles has come back to haunt us in our memes ("Honey, where is my super suit!" is on constant loop in many people's heads), making it the perfect Halloween costume for 2018. All you need is a red morph suit, black bikini bottoms (worn over the red suit), tall black boots, black gloves, a yellow belt, and a black eye mask. Super powers not included.

Get into character

Mamma Mia: Here I Go Again was a smash hit. With brightly colored costumes, feather boas, and 1970s-inspired go-go style, it's easy to recreate the look with a visit to a thrift store - or your mom's trunk of old outfits from her disco days!

"Riverdale": With so many different characters and different styles on the show, you can pick your outfit based on your own personal look. Are you more of an all-American Archie Andrews or a brooding Jughead? A sweet-on-the-outside Betty, Veronica the society girl, a River Vixen cheerleader, or maybe one of the Pussy Cats? Binge watch 'til you spot your Halloween soulmate, then hit pause while you copy the look to a T…

Are you a Betty or Veronica?Courtesy of The CW

The royal wedding of the year between Prince Harry and Meghan was so iconic, it was captured in photos from every angle. A military dress suit for the prince and a white wedding dress with a long veil for the princess make this costume pretty easy to recognize.

Recreate Prince Harry and Meghan's Royal Wedding

Fortnite has dozens of skins. Some are pretty complex, but others simply require a hoodie, some big headphones, and a few small accessories. Bonus--you can tell a gamer a mile away when they give you a knowing nod as you pass dressed as Trailblazer or bust into Orange Justice on the dance floor.

Foodie costumes

Not into celebrities or video games? How about using food as a fallback? Food is the top trending costume of 2018 so far, and it's also one of the least expensive costumes you can buy. If you're more of a store-bought costume kind of person, head to your local superstore like Target or Wal-Mart for a one-size-fits-most food costume that costs $20 or less.

Food is the top trending Halloween costume of 2018Courtesy of @RoundsBurgers

Wanna DIY? S'mores are made by melting a marshmallow and chocolate and smashing them between two graham crackers. As a costume, this works as a solo getup, where you wear all three as a sandwich board, or as a 3- or 4-person costume, where each person dresses up as one element. (With four people, two get to be graham crackers.)

As a hot trend, Starbucks' buzz just won't chill. Whether you're a caffeine addict or you're mourning the demise of the unicorn frappuccino, there's a costume out there that will let your hand crafted drink flag fly.

Always be yourself. Unless you can be a unicorn. Then be a unicorn frapp for Halloween!Courtesy of Letitia Kiu

Tell Us What You Think

What are you dressing up as for Halloween this year? Share your costume ideas or search for inspiration in the comments below.