This is my son Joe. He has Autism and lives in his own little world. Joe doesn’t care what’s trendy or what any other children wanted to be for Halloween. He does his own thing, and this year, he wanted a robot Halloween costume.
I’d like to thank everyone for sharing. I borrowed ideas from many of the people on this site to make my son’s costume, and it was a hit. He told everyone that mom made his costume, and you could not imagine how happy that made me.
The body is a storage bin, spray painted metallic silver. I used a sharp utility knife to cut the holes for arms, neck, and headlights. The headlights are individual LCD lights I bought @ Target in the auto department. The reflectors are self adhesive car reflectors. The buttons are spray painted, hot glued water bottle caps. Gauges are clipart pictures printed on photo paper and CDs, adhered with hot glue.
The helmet is a small storage container with the lid hot glued to the bottom and spray painted silver. I cut the opening for his face with the utility knife. I drilled a small hole into either side of the helmet and attached silver elastic so it would stay on under his chin. I drilled small holes around each arm and attached the dryer venting with fishing line. This allowed him to move his arms more freely. The top of each armhole is a cut piece of dryer venting, widened to make it look like a sleeve, and adhered with hot glue. I attached foam batting on the inside where the bin rested on his shoulders for comfort. The leg coverings are a metallic sun visor, cut in half and wrapped around each leg, secured with a Velcro strip. His shoes are rubberized water clogs, spray painted metallic silver.
The self adhesive, reflective letters and numbers (which are numbers he picked, because he is fascinated with numbers… don’t ask… it’s an Autistic thing) on the back of his costume are from Home Depot. His gloves are child’s vinyl gloves, spray painted silver. It took about 3 cans of spray paint for the entire costume.
Related costumes:
90+ Coolest Homemade Robot Costume Ideas 
Coolest Light-Up Robot Costume 
Last Minute Super Original DIY Connect the Dots Costume 
Cute Homemade Robot Costume for a Child 
Coolest Vintage Sci-Fi Robot Costume 
Coolest Homemade Robot Boy Costume 
Barnstormer Nick and His Biplane Ace Costume 
Recycled Beer Capped Crusader Costume (Drinking in the Name of Art!)
Your little boy’s robot costume is amazing! I’m looking for ideas b/c my 7-yr-old wants to be a robot this year. Wow! I would love to try and make this. Thanks for sharing!
This is really cool! My 4 yr old son is into robots this year, but we’re low on money since I’ve recently had twin girls and had to quit working full-time. I’ve been looking for easy things that I could possible make for them to wear, and I love this idea! Thanks
It’s so beautiful how you and Joe collaborated on this awesome costume. You’re a great mom!
Where did you get the plastic bin and what size was it? I’m trying to find one that fits my 4 year old son and they’re either all too big or too small. HELP!
My 9 year old son is also Autistic and wants to be a robot as well this year. Yours is fabulous and we’re going to use your design for him. Thank you!
I am so glad you liked the costume.
The size of the bin I used is 66 QT. Your best bet is to measure your child from the top of his shoulder to just below his tummy and bring the measuring tape with you to the store to measure the bin.
FYI: I cut out the bottom completely, so he would be able to move his legs freely and sit if he wanted. This also allowed him to get into the costume more easily. I attached the back (the lid) with velcro strips to keep it in place.
I hope this info helps. Thank you for your comments. Have fun with your costumes!
I have been looking for different ideas from this site as well. You matched them all! I want to make mine as original as possible, but you have awesome ideas! Love it! My little guy is a tiny 4 too, so we will see what fits!
I used a large paper box for the body… the kind that holds like a dozen reems of paper. Most offices that use lots of paper (try a law firm) are throwing these away all the time. It was perfect for my 5 y.o who is small. I used a plastic plant container for the head. It was perfect because it had airholes at the top for better ventilation. Great costume. Thanks for the inspiration!!!
Wow, maybe robots are an autism thing! I have a 7 year old with autism who wants to be an robot, also fascinated with numbers. Thanks for the great ideas! He looks very sweet.
Diane
Denver Co
My son also is autistic and and this year has his heart set on being a robot. And Guess what his name is also Joe! Your ideas are amazing and I can tell your a wonderful Mom. Thank you for your great ideas. By the way your son is so cute!
I have to laugh because my son is also autistic and wants to be a robot this year! I’m getting lots of great ideas. Your costume looks great and you can see Joe was proud of it.