Halloween Face Painting with an Indian Costume for Boys

At fairs and carnivals all around the world you will often times see a booth that is dedicated to the purpose of decorating a person’s face with paint.  There is something about having one’s face painted that makes them feel beautiful and decorated.  Girls of all ages like to have flowers, hearts, and balloons to decorate their face and make them feel pretty.  For boys, face painting can take a little bit different technique.  Most boys want their faces painted to resemble brave soldiers, football heroes, or tribal warlords.

Face painting has been used throughout the centuries to intimidate the opponents of a group of warriors.  Whether that group was a tribe, a football team, a rival faction, or simply to make the wearer appear more scary, face painting has been used in many cultures throughout the years.  Halloween is no exception as you can see painted faces on babies, toddlers, children, and adults anywhere you go during the night’s events.  One reason that face painting is so popular is simply because it’s fun!

If you have a little bit of artistic skill or know someone who does, you can make sure that your Indian costume for boys looks authentic by adding a little bit of warrior face paint.  For Native Americans, the design for the face paint varied greatly depending on the gender of the person whose face is to be painted, the purpose of the painting, and the particular tribe to which they belonged.  For your Indian costume for boys, you will probably not be getting into too much of the historical detail of face painting.  You’ll want to make it simple with just a few paint colors and a simple design.

To apply face paint, make sure the skin is clean by washing it with soapy water and drying thoroughly.  Then, decide if you want to do an all over face painting in one or two colors or if you would like some accent designs instead.  With young children wearing Native American costumes, it is recommended to only do accent designs since they might not be comfortable with full face makeup.  Instead, apply two horizontal stripes just under the eyes along the cheekbone in different colors.  You may also add simple designs like lightning bolts across the bottom of each cheek.  Tiny circular dots in a contrasting color like white or black on another part of the face like the forehead, will give your warrior that ready-for-war look.