My son was ‘nuts’ for a Robot Party, so I ‘bolt’-ed into action and got cracking on a costume for him to wear on the invitation and at the party. The best part about this costumes is that it is reasonably inexpensive to make – using mostly recycled parts!
You will need:
I large box for the body (the sizing will be dependant on the size of your child)
1 smaller box for the head
Flexible Ducts (used for the arms & legs – you can get this from any hardware store)
A slinky (I found mine at my toystore)
Bottle caps
2 x spray can lids
2 x soft drink bottles
Computer parts (I went to the local recycling centre and they had hundreds to choose from!)
Robot Gauges (I found this printable online here )
Silver spray paint
Alfoil/tin foil
Masking tape
Silver face paint (optional)
Glue gun
Box cutter/Stanley Knife
For the hat/robot head. I took my box and glued the slinky to the top – attaching one end to one side and the other end to the other side. I then glued on the two spray paint lids to each side of the box. I then glued on 5 milk container caps along the top front of the box and add a large circular button to the front middle (I found this at the recycling centre but I have no idea what is was used for?).
I then sprayed the whole thing with the silver spray paint and let it dry, giving it a second coat of the paint a few hours later. Whilst I was spraying the head, I spray painted 4 bottle caps and the two soft drink bottles for the body to use later.
The Robot Body
I made sure one end of the box was left open and cut all of the flaps off using the box cutter/stanley knife. For the other end, I taped it up with masking tape to make sure it was sturdy.
Then using the box cutter/stanley knife, I (got my husband to) cut two circles in the sides of the box for the armholes & one in the top for the head to go.
I then spray painted the whole thing with the silver spray paint.
I then measured how much Flexible duct I would need for each ‘limb’ by putting Master L’s arms and legs through each section and cut it off using the box cutter (after it was taken off of him of course).
Then using the masking tape, I taped the two sections of the flexible duct for the arms to the inside of the two ‘arm holes’ on the box for extra strength. (I also added masking tape to each end of the flexible duct piece to make sure there were no sharp edges).
The duct for the legs can just be slipped over a pair of pants and stay up quite well without any reinforcement.
I then went to work glueing on all of my buttons, gauges & computer parts. (I actually printed out my gauges & then laminated them to protect them from any spills etc but this is not a necessity).
You will notice that I mounted two of the round gauges onto a CD which I also mounted on a bottle cap to give it some dimension.
The shoes were easy, I simply wrapped the shoes he was wearing in alfoil/tin foil!
I then glued on the two painted soft drink bottles to the back of the robot body to look like ‘jets’ and added another little gauge aswell.
Using a make up sponge I carefully applied the face paint to Master L’s face. He thought this was pretty cool….”it tickles, it tickles”. Too cute!
And there you have it, your own DIY Robot Costume!
I also made some other Robot Heads for the kids to try on for Master L’s party, you can check them out and all of the other Robot Party details here.
Jenni x
Wow – great costume. I don’t see why this can’t be adjusted to fit an adult also. We older kids gotta have some fun also 🙂
Toddled over to your robot party. Goodness – you thought of everything. Loved the robot food displays. Just a word of caution – you set the bar pretty darn high for next year. Must have taken you lots of time to pull all of this together, but the result is fabulous and Luke will only be 5 once.
Tavette – S. Fla.
How did you get the head piece to stay on his head?
Awesome costume, I’m trying to duplicate!!
Hi Chrissy, so glad you are making this costume! It’s so cute! You could use a few large sponges to put either side of the box to keep it on. Let me know how you go! Jen x
blue what are you doing in comments she probably ain’t gonna make you any costumes that fit you why don’t you make it yourself mr. salt and mrs .pepper can buy the parts.
Don’t worry i wikl by the parts but they will be small parts due to you being a puppy
will i mean
are there any puppet sized parts cuz i’m a puppet i appeared on the upside down show
try a grey sock and a tiny grey coffee cup for the head they will work for a puppet
thank you for info but how do i make arm holes in sock and head hole
+puppet from the upside down show try using super sharp scissors to cut top off sock and use knife and poke holes on both sides of socks move knife around to make bigger
ok
great! it good to see , this costume is not for adult but we can have it duplicate. recently i saw a star wars cham bracelet that’s beautiful. you may buy this to gift some one or for halloween.
What did you use to keep the robot head from falling off your kid’s head?