costume making.

every year we have a family night where the kids perform a cute little dance for their parents. we did a dance to 'under the sea' from the little mermaid and i got to be creative and make some great costumes for the kids. i showed some of the costumes when i'd just started them but obviously they were all finished in time for our performance. i didnt want to spend much money on costumes and wanted them to look homemade but also impressive and cute. the total spent on all these costumes was $5 (for 20 costumes for kids) thanks to a $5 bag sale at the local op shop (thrift shop) where i got lots of hats, tshirts and bits and pieces...and it helps to have a classroom filled with craft supplies too. so if you're looking for some ocean inspired costumes i've listed some ideas i came up with.

starfish: cardboard stars painted pink, covered in patty pans and sparkles and glued to an old tshirt. for a headpiece get an old cap, get rid of the front and paint it pink. then add some paper plate eyes.

crab: red tshirt and sock arms. crab pinchers made from bra pads painted red and cut to shape. hat made from an old cap (minus front ) painted red with pipecleaners coming from it. cut white paper plates to eye shape and stick on googly eyes.

turtle: green tshirt. front made from painted cardboard (cut in oval shape and painted using green and brown paint. turtle shell made from plastic green plates stuck together and tied to front using green string/ribbon. hat made from old cap (minus front) painted green with eyes cut from frog plates found in the classroom.

mermaid: top is kids own (swimming top). skirt made from green fabric sewn to make a basic skirt. then tails are made from cardboard painted green, covered in sequins and glued to green skirt. the head piece is made from a cap cut to lose the top and front. then some flowers (from an old hula skirt) were glued around the bit of the cap left.

jellyfish: a square of blue plastic tablecloth stuck to a mini hula hoop. lots of ribbons and strings are hung from the mini hula hoop and the plastic tablecloth is covered in sequins held down by sticky tape. hat is a cap painted blue, front off and eyes made from paper plate/ black paper.

we also had a diver, shark and some octopuses but i didnt manage to get any good photos.
it was such a cute little performance and they were all excellent little sea creatures. we had moves that matched the lyrics because when i hear words like beat, rhythm, timing it all sounds too much and we included pretty much every ocean dance move we could brainstorm. it was fantastic!