How to Make a Dora Costume

The "Dora the Explorer" animated television show encourages children's creativity and curiosity. The 7-year-old Latina cartoon girl, along with her pet monkey, go on exciting play-along adventures and include young viewers through singing, dancing, and other engaging activities. Costume supplies from eBay let young fans dress up like the well-loved main character. It is easy to make a Dora costume once fans know how to assemble the backpack, wig, and clothing.

Making the Different Parts of a Dora Costume
Pre-made Dora costumes are available on eBay, but creating a costume from scratch fits a child's measurements better. The different parts of a do-it-yourself Dora costume include the magical purple backpack, short black wig, colorful clothing, pet monkey, and makeup.

Magical Backpack
The magical purple backpack Dora wears during her adventures is essential to the costume. Costume makers need a 48-by-12-inch sheet of cardboard, four 9-inch-by-12-inch sheets of felt in purple, white, black, and red, one light-yellow sheet of paper, colored pencils, a black marker, a glue gun, fabric glue, a ruler, and scissors to create this accessory.

Instructions

Costume makers draw a template, and cut it out from the cardboard. They attach the purple felt to the cardboard using the glue gun. Strips of purple felt create the sides and side pockets, while another piece of purple fabric makes the backpack's flap. Costume makers then glue two long strips of cardboard covered in purple felt to the backpack to create the backpack straps.

They then draw a face with the black marker and use the red, white, and black felt. They cut the eyebrows from yellow paper or felt. They draw another face on the light yellow piece of paper and roll it to create Dora's magical map.

Wig
A short black or dark brown children's wig recreates Dora's signature bob. Dora wigs in smaller children's sizes are available on eBay. Older children dressing up as Dora might need an adult size wig. Costume makers should measure the circumference of a child's head with a flexible measuring tape to find the wig size.

Clothing
Dora's typical attire is a pink T-shirt, orange shorts, yellow socks, white sneakers, and a flower bracelet. Regular children's clothing makes up most of the outfit. Costume makers string yellow beads and a large blue flower bead onto elastic string to make Dora's bracelet.

Pet Monkey
Boots is Dora's pet monkey and best friend. A Boots plush doll is ideal for a "Dora the Explorer" costume. This plush monkey comes in sizes ranging from 6 to 13 inches. The Boots doll must be suitable for a child's height. Boots the size of a Beanie Baby is great for infants and toddlers, while a larger version of this pet monkey is better for older children. Boots plush dolls also come in a variety of poses, including standing, waving, and sitting.

Makeup
Dora has tan skin. A foundation in a medium shade gives children with light skin a natural sun-kissed glow. A light layer of makeup also covers any freckles a child might have.