Swine Virus Halloween Costume, Teachable Moment?
Homemade H1N1 Costume Can Teach Anti-Flu Handwashing Habit
Sep 30, 2009
In a slow economy, with less cash to spend on frivolities, homemade Halloween costumes (or Double-Trouble Halloween costumes) offer a fun opportunity for both creativity and education. For children who don't know what to "be" for Halloween, a flu-themed homemade costume might be just what the doctor ordered. After all, a flu virus is invisible (so nobody really knows what it looks like). It's contagious. So, it's just weird enough that kids can have fun imagining it. Meanwhile, parents and teachers can seize the moment to teach about good hand hygiene and flu prevention, without seeming preachy.
What Does the H1N1 Virus Look Like?
Viewed under a microscope, every germ has a specific appearance, including the H1N1 virus. H1N1 looks like a series of attached circular shapes, green or brown. Each individual circle has a darker outer rim and lighter inside.
When viewed from the outside, the H1N1 virus (see second photo) looks oddly like a dozen small muffins, each in a brown paper muffin cup with corrugated sides, smushed together. The "muffins" are banana-bread colored. Some have a smattering of a light brown sprinkle. In fact, the photos of microscopic swine flu virus look like homemade banana muffins in muffin cups, some sprinkled with cinnamon-sugar.
Another view of the H1N1 virus, in which green dye was used to better show the virus, shows the virus to be a series of attached greenish globs. (See photo below, courtesy of CDC.)
H1N1 Costume Idea: Be the H1N1 Flu Virus for Halloween
Halloween is a night for imagination. Use the following just as starting points.
- The simplest way to "be" the virus is to wear matching top and tights (black or bright green, for instance) and wear a swinish-looking mask, with a sash going across the body with the words "Swine Flu" or "H1N1."
- To visualize the idea that the flu is communicated through hand-to-hand contact, decorate a pair of large adult gloves (such as garden gloves, or BBQ mitts) with weird objects such as coiled springs, Halloween goo, and other objects designed to repel contact.
- For a hat, make a paper mache mask that looks like a pig (while explaining to the child that pigs, pig meat, piggy banks, pig toys, etc. have nothing to do with the transmission of this virus). Or, concoct a silly hat that is something the child imagines to be a "virus."
- Those with time and artistic abilities might try to mimic the microscopic virus. Here's one cheap idea: collect enough empty egg cartons to cover the child's torso. Spray paint the cartons a Halloween color. Fashion a homemade cape or poncho from an old sheet or towel; attach the egg cartons. (Only adults should use Krazy Glue, to avoid a child's fingers sticking together.) The egg cartons can be stuffed with crushed newspaper, cotton balls, or other material, painted. Alternatively, instead of a poncho, use a cardboard box, decorated outside with egg cartons. Cut holes for head and arms. Add a hat.
Parents Can Dress Up, Too
Well, suppose the child doesn't want to dress up as a virus for Halloween? That's understandable. But a parent can, instead. And, just discussing a H1N1 Halloween costume creates an educational moment.
Sometimes the best way to teach new habits is to make a game of it. For Halloween, consider undertaking a creative project. Make a homemade costume that is both fun and creates a chance to address the issues of handwashing and personal hygiene that contribute to H1N1 swine flu prevention. And don't forget to talk to them about Halloween candy and preventing the flu, too.
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