Guide
Incorporating blindness canes into Halloween costumes
Trick or Treat! Here's ten inexpensive DIY Halloween costumes for white cane users that incorporate the cane.
I started using a cane about two months before Halloween, and found myself wondering how I was going to incorporate it into a Halloween costume for a party I was invited to. I knew I wanted my cane to be part of the costume, so I went through my closet and was able to put together a really fun costume for the event that got lots of compliments. Since then, I have put together several other inexpensive costumes that incorporate my cane in a fun way that still lets me use my cane safely. Today, I will be sharing ten Halloween costume ideas that use canes for people with blindness and low vision. Almost all of these costumes are gender neutral, and are all easy to make, inexpensive, and can be made in 15 minutes or less.
Being blind as a bat
This was the costume I chose for my first Halloween party with a white cane, and it ended up winning a contest for “best pun” and was even mentioned in an article that my university wrote about me.
For the bat costume, you will need:
- Head-to-toe black or brown clothing
- A black or brown scarf to drape over your shoulders for wings (I wrapped it around my neck as I walked and draped it over my shoulders when I wasn’t moving)
- Cat ears/Bat ears
- An undecorated white cane
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Adding a fairy wand to a cane
For another event I went to, I wasn’t going to be using my cane as much and decided to decorate it a bit more for photos. I made the star for the wand removable with velcro so I could remove it while I walked without damaging my cane.
For the fairy costume, you will need:
- A pastel colored dress
- Tiara
- A white cane
- Painter’s tape to put on the side of the cane handle so it can be removed later without damage
- Velcro dots to put on top of the painter’s tape
- A star shape cut out from glitter paper, with velcro dots added to the back so it affixes to the cane
- Silver sparkly scrapbooking tape to add to the top of the cane (Optional)
Using the Force with a lightsaber cane
Confession time – I have never actually seen Star Wars. However, I met an awesome TVI this summer at a conference who told me about how a bunch of their students thought of their canes like lightsabers, so I figured I would include the idea. This would especially be fun with a color cane, but it works great with an undecorated cane too. Taking a flash photo with a white cane in the dark shows the lightsaber effect well. For those curious to learn about the different cane colors, read more about decoding the colors of canes here.
For the lightsaber costume, you will need:
- Star Wars character costume of your choice (There are so many, it would be impractical to list them all)
- Undecorated white cane or color cane
Related link
Be a hero with Daredevil
As I was talking about ideas for this post with my friend, they immediately told me I should add Daredevil to the list. For kids that are a fan of the blind superhero, it’s easy to put together a few different costumes, though I’ll be sharing the two easiest.
For Daredevil’s black season 1 costume, you will need:
- Black sweater
- Black long sleeve shirt
- Black pants
- Black shoes
- An undecorated white cane: He uses white nunchucks in this costume.
For the Matt Murdock costume, you will need:
- Gray jacket or cardigan
- White shirt
- Black tie
- Black pants
- Black shoes
- Sunglasses (Optional)
- An undecorated white cane: His cane on the show has a red stripe on the bottom.
Going under the sea with Destiny from Finding Dory
My favorite Disney/Pixar character is Destiny from “Finding Dory,” a visually impaired whale shark that is best friends with Dory and Bailey. Having a vision impaired character that kids can relate to is amazing, and I wish she was in the first movie when I was younger and still trying to understand my poor eyesight.
For the Destiny costume, you will need:
- Teal/blue top with white polka dots added
- Gray pants/Leggings
- Shark fin to wear on back (Optional)
- White cane: Either undecorated or with blue reflective tape added to the top
Joining the three blind mice
The three blind mice are a common group costume, so it could be fun for a group of friends. It’s worth noting though that many people who have perfect sight love dressing up as mice, and there is nothing wrong with that. Just don’t be surprised if someone doesn’t think you genuinely need a white cane.
For the three blind mice costume, you will need:
- Head-to-toe black, gray, or brown clothing
- Small round mouse ears
- Sunglasses (Optional)
- Face paint to add whiskers (Optional: Kids with sensory processing disorders may find this overwhelming or uncomfortable.)
- Undecorated white cane
Willy Wonka
Be in a world of pure imagination by dressing up as one of the most beloved children’s book characters. There are two options for this costume based on the movies- one from the 1971 movie starring Gene Wilder and one from the 2005 movie starring Johnny Depp.
For the Gene Wilder version, you will need:
- Dark purple jacket or cardigan
- Light purple shirt
- Beige bow tie (Optional)
- Khaki pants
- Brown shoes
- Orange/Beige top hat
- Undecorated white cane
For the Johnny Depp version, you will need:
- Burgundy jacket or cardigan
- Black shirt/sweater
- Pair of black pants
- Pair of black shoes
- Black top hat
- White framed sunglasses (optional)
- Purple gloves (optional)
- Undecorated blindness cane
Be a magician or ringmaster
Abracadabra! A magician is a fun costume that can make a cane seem like a very long magic wand, and it can also be used as a ringmaster costume for a circus. I used this costume to go trick-or-treating at the different US Embassies in DC and the staff found it very creative.
For the magician/ringmaster costume, you will need:
- Black or red jacket/cape
- White shirt
- Bow tie (Optional)
- Black pants (or blue jeans)
- Black shoes
- A black top hat
- An undecorated white cane
Act sweet with a candy (blindness) cane
One time, a professor of mine was trying to ask me where I put my cane during class, but forgot the term for white cane and instead asked me where I put candy canes during class. I found this highly amusing and realized it would make for a fun costume for someone who really loves Christmas!
For the candy cane costume, you will need:
- Red and green or other holiday themed clothing
- Undecorated white cane with red on the bottom, or, alternatively, wrap another part of the cane with red reflective tape
- Alternatively wrap another part of the cane with red reflective tape
Rock your choice of costume and use a white cane
While these costume ideas are definitely fun, a person who uses a white cane definitely doesn’t have to make their cane part of the costume. They can be whatever they want to be for Halloween, just like everyone else, as long as they can still move their cane. However, I hope these ideas for incorporating white canes into Halloween costumes are fun and helpful for those who don’t want their cane to blend in, but to stand out against their costume in a fun and humorous way.
By Veronica Lewis/Veronica With Four Eyes, www.veroniiiica.com
Updated September 2023; original post published October 2018.
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