As we all know, Halloween is just around the corner, and when it comes to this October holiday, half the fun is in the costuming. But not all costumes are created equal, and when it comes to dressing for school, one has to consider what is appropriate for students and faculty alike. Without a doubt, there are outfits unfit for school grounds — anything that promotes violence, is inappropriate, or anything that may be deemed offensive — but that in no way means that a Halloween costume can’t still be fun! Below are some clever, funny, and interesting ideas for students and teachers enrolled or educating in grades K-12.

Clever Costume Ideas For Teachers

Snakes on a Plane

Who hasn’t at least heard of the famous film Snakes on a Plane starring Samuel L. Jackson and other big Hollywood stars? Bring the movie to life with an educational pun by getting some white poster board and some plastic snakes. Simply draw a grid (or “plane”) on the board, glue the snakes to the poster, and ta da – “Snakes on a Plane.” It is a simple and inexpensive look to achieve, and while some younger students may not immediately understand the reference, faculty and students of higher grades will be amused by the creativity.

Viola Swamp

A black wig and black dress will help transform a teacher in to this literary villain from “Miss Nelson is Missing“. Especially fun for an integrated lesson-plan, pale makeup with a generous helping of black warts will bring the book to life. Choose this, or any other literary hero to bring learning full-circle, and make Halloween an educational opportunity.

Clever Costume Ideas For Students

Green Soldier

Every generation, for the last several decades, has grown up knowing these little, green, toy soldiers. To copy the appearance of these plastic figurines, a student need only paint him or herself green with face/body paint and wear an outfit of corresponding greenness. To make the costume complete, parents can scrounge up (or purchase) an old skater or army-style helmet, and a pair of boots – bonus points if the boots are green too!

Wednesday Addams

The Addams Family has been a classic fixture of the Halloween scene since its TV debut in 1964; the spooky family offers a myriad of characters as costume inspiration. Particularly after the series’ 1991 resurgence onto the big screen, the witty and deadpan daughter, Wednesday, has been especially popular with younger generations. To channel your child’s inner Wednesday, either fashion their hair into two pigtail braids or purchase a wig and do the same. Dress your child in a black sweater with a white collared shirt, a black skirt, tall black socks, and black shoes.

Clever Costume Ideas For Anyone

The Brawny Guy

It can be incredibly simple to embody the handsome paper towel salesman, famous in grocery stores around the country. All one need do is acquire a plaid shirt – preferably red and black – a pair of jeans, and some facial hair. Of course, if it is a younger student attempting this costume, the latter part of this ensemble may need to be drawn in with a little face paint (or even some eyeliner, should you have some handy), but that could add to the humor aspect of this costume.

Ceiling Fans

This costume concept can be relatively easy to pull together at the last minute! To become a “ceiling fan,” all you need to do is locate a skirt or pants in your school’s color(s), a white shirt, and maybe some pom poms. Using a sharpie, write something akin to “Go Ceiling!” on the front of the shirt, and just like that you have yourself one top notch “ceiling fan.” Despite this outfit’s simplicity, it is definitely silly and fun enough to make students and teachers laugh and/or appreciate the creativity involved in the idea.

The Operation Guy

This list is all about costumes that are easy and quick to make/pull together, and the “Operation Guy” is no exception. Chances are, everyone is at least familiar with the classic game “Operation,” where players are required to remove oddly shaped pieces of plastic from the “patient” without allowing their forceps to touch the metal edges of the game. To embody this character, clothe yourself in khaki, top and bottom, and locate some red, grey, and white construction paper. To make up the pieces, have fun cutting the paper into various shapes and hot glue/adhere the cutouts to the khaki ensemble.

Pig in a Blanket

Not only is this costume idea cute and fun, it’s also incredibly comfortable and warm – something that is very important as October comes to a close and temperatures continue to drop throughout most of the country.

To be a pig-in-a-blanket, simply dress yourself in pink and use pink construction paper to fashion yourself a little pig snout and some piggy ears. Attach the snout to a length of string to tie around your head and affix the ears to a headband. To complete the look, wrap yourself or your child in a comfy blanket.

Ghostbuster

Though slightly more complicated than previous ideas on this list, putting together a Ghostbuster costume is still possible to do relatively quickly and on the cheap. The basics of the costume can be outlined as a khaki jumpsuit (or a matching set of khaki pants and shirt), boots, goggles, and a backpack. To make the costume more in-depth, purchase some plastic tubing from your local hardware store and affix it to the backpack in the style of vacuum hoses. To bring the whole costume to life, print out the Ghostbusters logo and paste it to the shirt and/or backpack.

The Ghostbusters have always been a classic, but with the recent release of the new film, the franchise is back in the spotlight and would make for an excellent costume for anyone!

Human Stick Figure

Possibly the easiest costume to put together on this list, you only need a set of black pants and black shirt (or white pants and white shirt) and duct tape of the opposing color: white on black or black on white. To create the “stick figure,” tape a line down the front of the shirt, down each arm, and down each leg. To make this costume extra in-depth, cut out a circle of white poster board, cut out eye and mouth holes, and wear it as a mask.