All Saints' Day Costumes for Kids: 15 Saints You Can Make From Things at Home

The easiest saint costume isn’t really a costume. It’s one object your child can hold, plus one sentence they can say about who they are.

Below are 15 saints you can make without a sewing machine, most of them from an old bedsheet and whatever is in the drawers. For each one we say where the symbol comes from, Scripture or later tradition, because someone at the party will ask your child and it helps to have an answer.

How to pick a saint so the costume is easy

A saint is easiest to recognise by an attribute, not by the costume. An attribute is the object that has identified a figure in paintings for centuries: Peter’s keys, Thérèse’s roses, Noah’s dove. A bedsheet tunic looks the same on everyone. The keys in the hand say who your child is.

We see this at home in Poland, where we make our own saint cards as a family. Our youngest is two and already has a favourite card: Jonah, because there is a big fish. And when children from the wider family played the game this summer, they complained that you could guess the answers just from the attribute icon (an eagle, so it’s John).

So the rule is simple: one tunic + one object + one sentence. The sentence is what your child says when someone asks, “Who are you?” A five-year-old who says “I’m Noah, I built the ark and saved the animals” is better dressed than a child in an expensive costume who doesn’t know who they are.

Store-bought costumes are fine too. Then the sentence matters even more.

The easiest costume of all is already in your child’s closet: St. Carlo Acutis: jeans, a hoodie, sneakers, a rosary and a cardboard laptop.

A tunic in 15 minutes, no sewing

1. Fold a bedsheet, blanket or large scarf in half so the fold sits on your child’s shoulders.
2. Cut a head hole in the middle of the fold, about the size of a saucer.
3. Put it over your child’s head and tie it at the waist with a rope, a bathrobe belt or a length of cord.
4. Trim it so it ends above the ankle. Children run at parties, and nobody should trip.

For a cloak, pin a second blanket on one shoulder with a safety pin. A beard is cotton wool glued to a strip of card on an elastic. Keep the tunic for December, because shepherds, Joseph and Mary in the Nativity play wear exactly the same.

15 saints: the symbol, where it comes from, what to make it from

The marks: Scripture means the symbol comes straight from the Bible, history means historical sources confirm it, and tradition means it came later, from legend or art.

Old Testament figures turn up at saints’ parties too, and that’s fine.

Saint	Known by	Where it comes from	From things at home	Your child says
Noah	a dove with an olive leaf	Scripture Gen 8:11	tunic, a white felt dove on a safety pin, a paper leaf	“I built the ark and saved the animals.”
Moses	two stone tablets	Scripture Ex 32:15	tunic, a head scarf, a broom handle, tablets from double cardboard	“I brought people the Ten Commandments.”
David	a sling and a shepherd’s bag	Scripture 1 Sam 17:40	short tunic, a fleece as a sheepskin, a cloth bag, a string sling	“I was a shepherd, and then a king.”
Queen Esther	a crown	Scripture Est 2:17	a long dress, a scarf as a cloak, a crown from card and gold foil	“I saved my people because I was brave enough to go to the king.”
John the Baptist	camel’s hair and a leather belt	Scripture Mt 3:4	a brown blanket or shaggy sweater, a belt	“I got people ready for Jesus.”
St. Peter	keys	the words about keys: Scripture Mt 16:19; keys in his hand: tradition	tunic and cloak, a cotton-wool beard, keys from card and kitchen foil, a fruit net as a fishing net	“I was a fisherman, and Jesus said I would get the keys of the kingdom.”
St. Michael the Archangel	armour, sword, wings	fighting the dragon: Scripture Rev 12:7; armour and scales: tradition	foil-covered cardboard armour, cardboard wings, a cardboard sword (quick version: tunic and sword)	“My name means: Who is like God?”
St. Nicholas of Myra	mitre, crozier, three bags of gold	bishop of Myra: history; gifts for three daughters: tradition	a red blanket as a cloak, a cardboard mitre, a crozier from a stick and rolled card	“I was a bishop, and I helped poor people in secret.”
St. Cecilia	an organ, a flower crown	tradition, most likely from a misunderstanding (below)	a light dress, a flower crown, a keyboard drawn on card	“I’m the patron saint of musicians.”
St. Agnes	a lamb	tradition, a play on agnus, Latin for lamb	a white dress, a flower crown, a toy lamb	“I loved Jesus with my whole heart.”
St. Lawrence	a deacon’s stole, a gridiron	deacon of Rome, died 258: history; the gridiron: tradition	a red shirt with a sash over one shoulder, a cardboard grill	“I showed that the poor are the Church’s treasure.”
St. Francis of Assisi	brown habit, white rope, birds	habit and rope: history; three knots on the rope (the vows): a later Franciscan custom; birds: tradition	a brown sheet, a white rope with three knots, a toy bird	“I loved everything God made.”
St. Thérèse of Lisieux	roses, a Carmelite habit	her words about a “shower of roses”, written down by her sister, Mother Agnes (1897); roses as her symbol: tradition	a brown dress, a white scarf with a black one over it as a veil, artificial roses	“I promised to let fall a shower of roses from heaven.”
St. Rita	a rose, a black habit	tradition	a black top or dress, a white scarf under a black one, one red rose	“I’m the patron saint of impossible causes.”
St. Maximilian Kolbe	Franciscan habit, round glasses, two crowns	the two crowns: from his own account of his childhood	a grey or black habit from a sheet, wire glasses, two card crowns: white and red	“I gave my life for another man.”

If your child wants to be someone not on the list, the rule is the same: find their one object.

• Peter's keyscard + kitchen foil
• Esther's crowncard + gold paper + buttons
• Thérèse's rosestissue paper + ribbon
• Noah's dovefelt + safety pin
• Moses' tabletsdouble card + paint
• Michael's scales and swordcoat hanger + cups + card

Which symbols are legend, not history?

A few of these symbols began as legends, and one probably as a mistake. Better to know before your child tells the whole party something that never happened.

St. Cecilia and the organ

Cecilia most likely became patron of music through a misunderstanding. The old account of her martyrdom says cantantibus organis: while the musicians played (it was wedding music), she sang in her heart to God alone. Later this was read as if she sat at an organ herself. That is how the Catholic Encyclopedia explains it.

St. Lawrence and the gridiron

That Lawrence was a deacon of Rome and died a martyr in 258 is certain. The story of his death on a red-hot gridiron is tradition; even the Catholic Encyclopedia says it raises serious doubts. The same tradition gives a lovely story: ordered to hand over the Church’s treasures, he brought the poor. At a party, tell the story of the poor, not the grill.

St. Nicholas — not the one from the ads

Historically we know very little about the fourth-century bishop of Myra (Catholic Encyclopedia). The story of the dowry for three poor daughters is tradition; in art it is often shown as three golden balls or three purses. A mitre and a crozier set him apart from the Santa of soft-drink ads.

St. Michael and the scales

Michael’s fight with the dragon is in Revelation (Rev 12:7). His usual attributes in art are a sword and wings. The scales for weighing souls come from the tradition of art, not from Scripture. Scales made from a coat hanger and two cups are great for children who don’t like “fighting”.

What to avoid with saint costumes

Martyrdom shown literally. For centuries art has shown martyrs with a palm and a crown, not with wounds. For Stephen, Lawrence or Agnes that is enough. No fake blood, no arrows, no “head on a platter” for John the Baptist.

A striped prison uniform and number. Maximilian Kolbe died at Auschwitz in 1941, giving his life for another prisoner (Wikipedia). A striped uniform on a child turns that place into a costume. Show Kolbe instead through the story he told his mother: as a boy he saw Mary holding two crowns, white and red, and he chose both. Two cardboard crowns are a good reason for a ten-year-old to tell that story themselves.

Dressing up as Jesus or Mary. We have found no Church guidance forbidding it and we won’t pretend there is. Our suggestion: at an All Saints’ party we dress up as saints and keep Jesus and Mary for the Nativity play and processions. If a parish or school runs the party, just ask.

Anything that can hurt. Swords only from cardboard. For David’s stones, use balls of scrunched-up newspaper. No small detachable parts for little ones.

Quick picks by age

Ages 3–5 (the costume must be comfortable; your child won’t hold a prop for two hours):

• Noah with a dove pinned to his shoulder,
• St. Agnes with a toy lamb,
• St. Francis with a toy bird.

Ages 6–9 (your child will happily say something of their own):

• St. Peter with the keys,
• Queen Esther,
• David with a sling,
• St. Michael.

Ages 10–12 (the costume can carry a story that needs explaining):

• St. Maximilian with two crowns,
• St. Cecilia and the story of the misunderstanding,
• St. Lawrence and the Church’s treasures.

If an eleven-year-old doesn’t want to dress up at all, the object in hand and the sentence are enough. That counts too.

Whatever the age, practise the sentence from the table in the car on the way to the party. In our game HOLY! HOLY! HOLY! every saint has their attribute on the card, and you score points for what you know about them. For a party, though, a bedsheet, a rope and one sentence will do.

Read next: All Saints’ Day vs Halloween — where both came from · Carlo Acutis for kids

As of September 2026. Bible references follow the New American Bible.