Squid Hat

The Problem:

As a toy product design instructor, it would be my job to introduce my student team at their final play-sensations, and all of the instructors were going to present dressed up as their team animal.

I was the instructor for squid team, and this squid costume wouldn’t do.

The Plan:

If I was going to be a squid, I was going to be an awesome squid.

I made a sketch of a costume that I thought would be a more true squid representation, with a lot more dignity.

I cut rough sections of blue foam and glued them together around an extra hard hat we had on hand

One of my favorite tools is a good knife. You can see the one I was using here to carve the foam

Adding a pair of giant googley eyes really made the squid come to life. The eye is mostly held in as a press-fit

The Completed Costume:

The final (and very last minute) touch was to add “tentacles” which were made using a thrift-store dress. I attached the dress to the squid body and then cut it in the shape of tentacles.

Here I am with the studens of team squid, their incredible toy (Infect It!), and their mentor Jonah:

It was finished just in time for playsentations (this is me):

other people may have worn it better though: