I was wondering if anyone had any ideas on how to decorate a box robot costume??

Question

I have decided to make a robot costume out of boxes for my 18 month old son. Any ideas on how I can decorate it, with things around the house. Something he would like, and would make him wanna wear it.
Its 2 boxes, one for the head; one for the body. It doesn't go over his knees cause he can't walk in it if it's too long. It's painted silver, with a big hole cut out of the front for his face; two holes in the body for his arms.

Answer 1

lights are often associated with the future. you can find battery operated christmas light strings in auto parts stores. put the wires inside and poke the lights out of little holes in the box.

there is aluminumized plastic (mylar) wrapping paper in many hallmark type stores. use it to cover the joints and arms/legs. it adds realism (relative term here I know). hold in place with clear packing tape.

For some reason spining things make robot costumes better (maybe beacuse of the traditional spinning tape to tape spools on 1960's computers). you can take an old portable cassette player (walkman), open the case and remove the mechanism from the case. if you hot glue this to the outside and make some eye catching carboard discs to put on the spindles (little posts that move the tape) you can get a cool spining effect. and the exposed mech and circuit board look vaguely cyborg-ish.

look around the house for plastic jugs. you're looking for the recycle logo on it. If you find one that has a 'LDPE" that is a plastic with a low melt temperature. cut off the ends and down one. Preheat the oven to about 225~250, and put the plastic in for about 5 minutes. the plastic will get soft, pliable, and you can shape it to anything (like a dome shape or box shape to cover the spinning mech.

and you may find that the body box will keep the boy from getting up if he does fall down. cut the back and sides at waist height, but leave the front attached. this will make a huge difference, letting him bend forward at the waist, while keeping the overall shape. Use elastic to pull the butt up towards the back