Paw Patrol Family Costume
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Our first Halloween as a family five was only one month after I had given birth to our third child. That means I started early and simplified when making our DIY family costume. So if you’re looking for a costume that requires minimal artistic skill but packs a wow factor, this is for you!
Every time that I have made a Halloween family costume, I hit a “why did I even do this stage”. The easiest fix for that is choosing a costume that your kids will really love. I still had a few final touches to put on while I was knee deep in newborn diapers, but the excitement on my boys’ faces was enough to keep me going on this Paw Patrol family costume idea.
Any purchases that were made for this Paw Patrol family costume were available on Amazon - a budget conscious mom’s dream come true! All links to similar products as pictured above can be found in the character shopping lists below.
Here is what you need to make this costume:
Marshall (red firefighter dog)
Black foam paper (for spots), red + white foam paper for emblem on hat
White cardstock paper and black Sharpie (ears)
Chase (blue police dog)
Baseball hat with a black brim
Royal blue, light blue, and yellow foam paper for the emblem + badge ; black foam paper for collar around puffer vest
Cardboard for the ears (Hot glued to sides of the black hat. Cardboard allows the ears to stand upright.)
Rubble (yellow construction dog)
Black, light blue, yellow foam paper for emblem + badge ; black foam paper for collar around puffer vest
Brown paper (or cardboard) for the ears (hot glued to inside of hard hat)
Rocky (green recycling dog)
Jeans
Gray ( I used a dark blue), pink foam paper for ears
Printable badge (the emblem on this hat had more detail than I wanted to replicate with foam paper)
Skye (pink baby)
As I mentioned, the baby was only about a month old, so I went very minimal for her.
Pink and white foam paper for badge (I also made her a little headpiece that I am holding in the top photo)
Those are the essentials for the best Paw Patrol family costume. I drew a nose and little spots on all of our faces with a face paint crayon. Eyeliner could also work, but I didn’t want to waste that much eyeliner on this project and render it useless afterwards.
I also mention foam paper above. I attribute the crips look of these costumes to foam paper. It provides bright and true colors and is easy to work with - scissors cut it, hot glue holds it, and it is sturdy enough to stand on its own if needed. Finding all the colors you want in one pack is difficult, but I have used foam paper in so many different applications - making garlands, kids crafts, holiday decor. So if you have to buy more than you would like to get the right colors, you’ll likely find a use for it somewhere. Here is a pack that has a great range of colors. Try to envision everything you need to get out of one color before you start cutting to get the most out of one sheet.
In terms of assembly, everything was done with hot glue. I don’t mess with sewing or really anything that requires more than hot glue - that is my promise to you! But a word of caution, should you choose to hot glue onto clothing, the clothes will not be reusable. Hot glue is not easy to get off clothes.
Now, if you’re feeling like you can take this Paw Patrol family of 5 costume idea to the next level, you can try your hand at making the kids’ candy baskets. I used my beloved foam paper, hot glue, and two boxes to make these candy baskets.
For each candy basket, I cut the lips of the box so that they helped mimic the shape of the construction truck (seen in top left image) or a cop car. I freehanded these based on images I found on google. Again, everything is assembled with hot glue, so it was simple. My 1 and 3 year old carried these around all night and there were no issues. In fact they still play with them and they are mostly in tact a year later.
Pro tips:
If you want your ears to sit straight (no curling), use foam paper or cardboard. The regular printer paper and construction paper that I used on Marshall + Rubble’s ears started to roll.
Do a practice round of the face makeup on the kids. They will be used to the application on Halloween if you’ve done it beforehand and you won’t have to chase them around the house.
We live in Florida, so we opted for shorts to counter the added heat in the puffer vests. If you’re in a cooler climate, go for the long pants.