If you want to fuel the imagination of your little wannabe fire-breather, why not create an awesome dragon costume that they can wear at weekends or even to family shows such as Dragons & Mythical Beasts? Believe it or not, you don’t have to spend a fortune on elaborate, shop-bought outfits. Making your own costume is simple. So here’s a dragon costume how-to, to help you out. You might even be able to use it for fancy dress parties and World Book days.

Step 1: Find Matching Pyjamas

One of the easiest ways to create a fun dragon costume is to locate a pair of pyjamas in a single plain colour of your choice. This could be red, green, blue, purple, or whatever colour you want your dragon to be. If you can find a pair with scale-like patterns on, even better. Otherwise just a plain set of pyjamas - or a plain tracksuit - would work brilliantly.

Step 2: Make the Dragon Wings

The great thing about this costume is that you won’t ruin the pyjamas. The dragon wings you make will be worn over the shoulders like a backpack and are easy to take on and off. To do this, cut out two matching wing shapes from cardboard. Cover the front of each in a felt of your choice using a hot glue gun. If kids are helping you to make this costume, make sure they’re supervised at this point. Cover the back of each wing in a contrasting colour. Trim to size.

Next, cut out a rectangular piece of felt. This should be large enough to glue the edges of both wings together so that they’re connected. You can decorate the wings further by attaching ribbon, buttons or anything else creative. You’ll then need to cut and glue two strips of elastic to the back of the wings so that your little one can wear them over their shoulders.

Step 3: Make A Dragon Tail

All fierce dragons have a swishy tail they can use to defend castles and scare intruders. To make your own tail, cut out two triangular shapes from a coloured felt. Try to curve the triangle so it looks more like a tail, but make sure each shape is the same as you’ll need to glue both shapes together, leaving a small hole in the top for stuffing. Once stuffed, glue up the top. You can sew the tail too, but this takes more time. To make the spikes for the tail, cut out small triangles from a different coloured felt and attach.

Attach elastic to the tail so children can slide it on round their waist. Or, pin the tail onto their pyjamas/tracksuit using safety pins.

Step 4: Make a Dragon Belly

To make a belly for your dragon, cut out an oval shape of felt that fits over your child’s tummy. Decorate as you please and attach to the front of the pyjama top with double sided fabric tape.

Step 5: Fact Paint

The final step is to complete the look with dragon facepaint. That’s a wrap and you’ll be the envy of all the other parents.

Family theatre shows don’t get much more exciting than Dragons & Mythical Beasts live on stage. Book your family theatre tickets today and make memories to last a lifetime.