My husband is an Elementary Special Education teacher. Every school year, each grade has a performance at some point throughout the year. The students will sing and have skits along with the teachers. Since the school staff mainly consist of females, my husband is asked more often than not to play random roles in the skits from Mario to a shark.
The best part about my husband acting in the skits is that he usually informs me last minute that he needs a costume made. Last minute costumes aren't always easy to throw together but so far we have succeeded or at least I like to think we have succeeded because the audience is usually a bunch of kids that love almost anything and are just happy to not be sitting in class.
My husband was asked to play a shark for one of the school skits. I liked the idea of a grey hoodie with teeth, eyes, a belly and tail sewed onto the hoodie to make it look like a shark hoodie. Needless to say I was short on time, didn't have a grey hoodie or enough white felt on hand and didn't feel like sewing all night so instead I made a shark out of a cardboard box and some paint we had lying around.
The cardboard shark wasn't super hard to make, didn't take a ton of time make and was cheap.
If you aren't into sharks or don't need a shark costume, you could easily use this tutorial to make a different type of animal costume. The possibilities of cardboard costumes is endless!
The cardboard shark wasn't super hard to make, didn't take a ton of time make and was cheap.
If you aren't into sharks or don't need a shark costume, you could easily use this tutorial to make a different type of animal costume. The possibilities of cardboard costumes is endless!
DIY Cardboard Shark Costume
Supplies:
- Large, flat piece of cardboard
- Pencil
- X-Acto Knife OR Scissors
- Grey Spray Paint
- White Paint
- Black Paint, Paint Pen OR Sharpie
- Paint Brush
- Twine OR Ribbon
How To:
1. Lay your cardboard out flat. If you are using a box, make sure to cut the box and lay it out flat.
2. Draw a large shark on the cardboard. I used a pencil and free handed the shark.
You can draw the shark any size you want. This shark was for my husband so I made it larger in size. If you are making it for a kid, make it smaller in size.
3. Using an X-Acto Knife, carefully follow your drawing and cut the shark out. You can use scissors if you prefer, scissors usually leave ruff edges though on cardboard.
4. Using the X-Acto Knife, carefully poke two holes on the top of the shark on either side of the sharks top fin.
5. Paint the shark grey or any other color you want. Let Dry.
I used grey spray paint to quickly paint the shark. Spray paint is a fast way of painting the shark. You can hand paint the shark with paint and a paint brush if you prefer.
6. Optional - Flip the shark over and paint the other side of the shark. Let Dry.
I wasn't sure what side my husband would have to stand on in the skit so I painted both sides of the shark so he could wear it either direction.
7. Add the shark's mouth, teeth, eyes, and gills. You can even highlight the shark's bottom fins. Let Dry. Repeat on the other side if you are painting both sides of the shark.
I used white paint and a paint brush for the mouth and white in the eye. I used a black paint pen for the eye, teeth, gills, and to high light the shark's fins.
8. Using twine or ribbon, thread it through the hole in the top of the shark and tie a knot. Leave enough twine or ribbon to hang the shark around your neck comfortably and tie a knot on the other side of the shark's fine.
Once tied, the shark will hang around your neck like a necklace would. If you painted both sides of the shark, you can easily change the direction the shark faces.
The cardboard shark wasn't super hard to make and it did what it needed to do for the skit. It may not be an ideal costume, but it is perfect for a church or school play. You can even wear it for Halloween or any other time you need to dress up as a shark.
Like I said above, you could easily use this tutorial to make a different type of animal costume. The possibilities of cardboard costumes is endless!
The cardboard shark would make the perfect costume for a toddler because it is cheap, easy to make, light weight, and if your toddler ruins the costume, they are really only destroying cardboard that was probably going to end up in the trash anyway. If you are making a cardboard shark for a toddler, I suggest making it smaller in size so it's easier for your little one to wear and carry around.
2. Draw a large shark on the cardboard. I used a pencil and free handed the shark.
You can draw the shark any size you want. This shark was for my husband so I made it larger in size. If you are making it for a kid, make it smaller in size.
3. Using an X-Acto Knife, carefully follow your drawing and cut the shark out. You can use scissors if you prefer, scissors usually leave ruff edges though on cardboard.
4. Using the X-Acto Knife, carefully poke two holes on the top of the shark on either side of the sharks top fin.
5. Paint the shark grey or any other color you want. Let Dry.
I used grey spray paint to quickly paint the shark. Spray paint is a fast way of painting the shark. You can hand paint the shark with paint and a paint brush if you prefer.
6. Optional - Flip the shark over and paint the other side of the shark. Let Dry.
I wasn't sure what side my husband would have to stand on in the skit so I painted both sides of the shark so he could wear it either direction.
7. Add the shark's mouth, teeth, eyes, and gills. You can even highlight the shark's bottom fins. Let Dry. Repeat on the other side if you are painting both sides of the shark.
I used white paint and a paint brush for the mouth and white in the eye. I used a black paint pen for the eye, teeth, gills, and to high light the shark's fins.
8. Using twine or ribbon, thread it through the hole in the top of the shark and tie a knot. Leave enough twine or ribbon to hang the shark around your neck comfortably and tie a knot on the other side of the shark's fine.
Once tied, the shark will hang around your neck like a necklace would. If you painted both sides of the shark, you can easily change the direction the shark faces.
The cardboard shark wasn't super hard to make and it did what it needed to do for the skit. It may not be an ideal costume, but it is perfect for a church or school play. You can even wear it for Halloween or any other time you need to dress up as a shark.
Like I said above, you could easily use this tutorial to make a different type of animal costume. The possibilities of cardboard costumes is endless!
The cardboard shark would make the perfect costume for a toddler because it is cheap, easy to make, light weight, and if your toddler ruins the costume, they are really only destroying cardboard that was probably going to end up in the trash anyway. If you are making a cardboard shark for a toddler, I suggest making it smaller in size so it's easier for your little one to wear and carry around.
My husband currently still has the the cardboard shark in his classroom incase he needs it for any future school skits. He currently has a Camping Themed Classroom so added it above his "Caught doing Good Work" bulletin board. The bulletin board was suppose to resemble a pond next to a camp site so I guess there is now a shark in the pond, but hey it still works!
I'd love to know how your cardboard shark turned out or what you used it for. Comment below!
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