Halloween is less than a week away! It’s that time of year again when people are carving pumpkins, dressing up in costumes and getting in the Halloween spirit.

Do you have a costume yet? If you are not ready yet, PBS SoCaL has gathered some costume resources to help you out.

Did you know that one of the most popular costumes this year is Sesame Street’s Big Bird? With the costume being so popular, stores are selling out fast.

If you want to dress up as Big Bird this year, you might have to get creative and make your own costume. Or you can choose to dress up as one of the other popular PBS characters.

Calling All Super Readers: Make Your Own Super Why Masks!

With these Super Why masks, you can pretend to be Princess Presto, Alpha Pig, Wonder Red or Super Why. You can also dress up as your favorite Super Reader anytime and go out on your own reading adventure. We decided to try out making these fun Super Why masks and some PBS SoCaL staff members volunteered to walk you through the steps:

Preparing the mask is super simple. First download the Super Why masks (PDF format) and print out the masks you want. Then you can cut out the mask with scissors and just follow the cutting lines. To cut out the eye circles, slightly fold the paper at each eye and make a small cut. Then you should be able to get your scissors inside the eye area and cut out the circles for your eyes. You are almost done and ready to wear the creature mask.

The next step is to get some string or yarn so you will be able to secure the mask to your head. This will allow you to have both hands free for reading a book or Trick or Treating so you don’t have to hold your mask on your face.

Cut a small hole on the right and left side of the mask near the edge. Then pull the string or yarn through both holes behind the mask. Check the length of string needed to comfortable rest the mask against your head and cut the excess from the front of the mask. The final step is to tie knots on the front of the mask so the string will stay in place.

Now your mask should be ready to go. We think our masks came out really well and it took us less than ten minutes to put it together. What kind of learning adventures will you be going on?

Wild Kratts Power Suit

Are you ready to make your own Wild Kratts creature power suit? Check out this PBS Parents guide to customize your own Wild Kratts Creature Power Halloween costume.

You can even wear these fun Wild Kratts creature masks with this costume for an even larger animal adventure. You can print out the bat, elephant, lion and raccoon masks and follow the same steps above to prepare the mask.

More Costume Resources

If you like to build you own costumes from scratch and are a do-it-yourself (DIY) type of person, PBS SoCaL has you covered. Check out our DIY Costumes for All Ages page for a collection of guides, inspiration designs and more. You can also get inspired to have a secret identity by reading the Halloween Costume Tips for Secret Sciences blog post from PBS' The Secret Life of Scientists and Engineers.

Which costume you are going to wear this year for Halloween? We want to know what spooky and scary activities you are planning, so share your Halloween plans in the comments. Check back to the PBS SoCaL blog later this week for more haunted Halloween content!