# Do schools still expect parents to make costumes for their kids' plays? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 30, 2014, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-schools-still-expect-parents-to-make-costumes-for-their-kids-plays/689656 "2014-05-30T18:51:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![a35362](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3da27b/32.png) [@a35362](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/a35362)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2014, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-schools-still-expect-parents-to-make-costumes-for-their-kids-plays/689656/1 "2014-05-30T18:51:23Z")
You know – the school play, the Christmas pageant, whatever. Are parents given any instructions, options? I’m just reading a book by the guy who created _Freaks and Geeks_, Paul Feig, _Kick Me: Adventures in Adolescence_, and he tells of his parents using his father’s army surplus store to create a Christmas elf costume. (So far, the book is good, if painful.) ---
**Author:** ![Wednesday\_Evening](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b2d939/32.png) [@Wednesday\_Evening](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wednesday_Evening)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2014, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-schools-still-expect-parents-to-make-costumes-for-their-kids-plays/689656/2 "2014-05-30T19:15:13Z")
My kids’ elementary school doesn’t have school plays, but so far I have had to supply costumes for: fancy dress tea party, California Ranchos day (mexican costume), Gold Rush day (cowboy costume), class lip-syncing performance (80s rocker), and Wax Museum (my kid chose Isaac Newton). Next year I will have to provide a Colonial American costume. Not sure about 6th grade. We are sometimes given instructions, but not many. It’s a bit of a sore topic for me right now, because I just had two days notice to come up with the 80s and cowboy costumes. It is the last two weeks of school, things are crazy anyway. I do not have time to hunt down costume items! Not sure if my kid is to blame or his teacher. Probably a combination of both! ---
**Author:** ![Hedda\_Rosa](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hedda_rosa/32/1204_2.png) [@Hedda\_Rosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hedda_Rosa)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2014, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-schools-still-expect-parents-to-make-costumes-for-their-kids-plays/689656/3 "2014-05-30T19:24:11Z")
Yes, but. I’ve never been expected to come up with an elaborate Lobster costume or something. However we did have to supply a costume for a presentation on a historical figure (think George Washington, Wright Brothers, Joan of Arc etc). Also for a play of updated nursery-rhymes/traditional stores like Aesops Fables. They stay pretty simple though - Think black sport coat and construction-paper hat over jeans and a t-shirt for Lincoln, not a full on costume. ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2014, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-schools-still-expect-parents-to-make-costumes-for-their-kids-plays/689656/4 "2014-05-30T21:52:25Z")
My daughter and I made a sultan’s robe for her middle school performance. Including the curled slippers. For the fall play, she was a private detective - we got a trenchcoat and a fedora. For the school play, some costumes are gotten, mostly for kids who wouldn’t manage to get their parents help in putting something together, and some kids provide their own - and some kids end up in street clothes.