I imagine that searching for Halloween costumes using face masks is going to be a thing this year — and I don’t mean your typical Halloween masks that cover your whole face. You know how no kid wants their long-planned costume ruined by a heavy winter parka over top? Well, we imagine the same will go for a face mask that might interfere with the full lewk they’re trying to achieve.

The truth is, there are a lot of ways that Halloween will look t different this year (to say the least) but I know my kids are still committed to wearing costumes somehow. So we’ve all spent some time brainstorming some cool cool Halloween costumes using face masks. You know, work it right into the concept.

Of course you can just put the little ones in a Halloween themed mask and call it a (fun) day. But I think these ideas should inspire some great creativity.

– Caroline, with Liz

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Related: All our favorite Halloween crafts, printables, pumpkin decorating ideas, all in one place

A healthcare hero

Let’s start with the obvious (and wonderful): A healthcare hero Halloween costume. We’ve written a lot about our amazing healthcare workers tirelessly caring for patients throughout the pandemic. So I expect to see tons of aspiring nurses, doctors, and EMTs out on the trick-or-treat circuit — whether on Zoom or in person. And such an easy costume! We found this kids surgeon costume at Target — or make your own easily with a white coat, gloves, and accessories like goggles or a stethoscope. All to go with a regular old face mask that you probably own already.

Related: Beyond Wonder Woman: 14 empowering girl Halloween costumes inspired by real life heroes

Animated characters galore!

Animated characters make great Halloween costumes using masks, because you track down the appropriate mask, then fill in everything from the nose up with face paint.

Got a red hoodie and some face paint? Then you can totally pull off Coco from one of our family’s favorite movies. Boston Baked Tees on Etsy makes the perfect Coco face mask for a Halloween costume/

Another idea: Emmet or WildStyle from The LEGO movie. No, technically everything is not awesome right now. But I still think a nod to Emmet would be a happy gesture in this landscape, and the small smiley Emmett face mask from a shop on Redbubble will get you started.

Related: 23 wildly cute baby Halloween costumes on Etsy that will make you want many babies to dress up this year.

Your kid’s favorite animal…or mythical creature

If you have a younger kid who still gravitates to the cute costumes over the creepy ones, animals are always great Halloween costumes using face masks! In fact, there are plenty of face masks to get you started. Check out these sweet kid-size animal face masks from Cubcoats. Choose from cats (of many color), foxes, pandas, tigers, or a unicorn. Add a onesie or just some ears and some fuzzy sweats, and voila!

A favorite superhero (or super villain)

Nearly any superhero makes a fantastic 2020 costume since most of them require masks anyway, and I imagine there will be a whole lot of Back Panther T’Challa costumes out there this year, in tribute to Chadwick Boseman. I adore these Black Panther face shields from Unique Styles by Jen, which ships from Orlando. (Just double check with the artist to guarantee delivery by Halloween.)

But of course, you can also go with Iron Man, Spiderman, Batman…nearly any superhero (or villain) who wears a mask is perfect for covering up that face mask. Even Spider Gwen, which we found on Amazon.

Related: 17 of the best pop culture Halloween costume ideas for kids right now

Anyone in a scarf. Like Randy “I Can’t Put My Arms Down!” Parker

We all remember that hilarious scene from A Christmas Story, in which Ralphie’s mother wraps his younger brother Randy so tight in his winter clothes, he responds, “I can’t put my arms down!” “You’ll put your arms down when you get to school,” she snaps back. If you live in cold climates, what a perfect Halloween costume to cover up that mask — and get a lot of laughs too.

But keep thinking about who else wears a scarf that you could wrap around a mouth — olympic skiers, figure skaters. Or hey, how about a Harry Potter character in a house scarf? They all make clever costumes using face masks.

Soooo many Star Wars universe characters

Halloween always abounds with Rey costumes from Star Wars: The Force Awakens in my neighborhood. But this year I think she’ll be even more on-trend given her cool scavenger gear lends itself perfectly to 2020. The costume wouldn’t be too hard to fashion with some plain brown fabric, clever use of rubber bands, and some protective eyewear you may already own — just be sure there’s an actual face mask under that head wrap!

Of course all of the Droids work too, plus Stormtroopers, Darth Vader, Darth Maul, Maz Kanata and even Ewoks. If you dare.

More ideas from the Star Wars universe? You got it! We only have a few more weeks before Season 2 of The Mandalorian arrives, so a Mando costume will be on point this Halloween. Whether you want to wear a full Mandalorian cosplay mask like this one from Amazon, or just a washable, reusable Mandalorian face mask like the amazingly realistic one shown above, from Toy and Fashion on Etsy, it’s easy to incorporate a face mask into this Halloween costume. For the armor, I’d hit up a second hand sporting goods store and then add some tasteful grunge with spray paint — or you know, go with the ready-made ones out there.

Besides, he’s the perfect role model for consistent mask-wearing, right?

Related: 13 of the coolest family Halloween costume ideas from the cast of Moana to Avocado Toast.

A Plague Doctor

Okay, so dressing up in a Plague Doctor costume this year is pretty dark. But you know, so is Halloween.