NYC kids buck national Halloween trends, go for classic homemade costumes instead

On most days, Oia K.is a 5-year-old girl in Ditmas Park, Brooklyn.She goes to kindergarten, plays chess and takes swimming classes.On Halloween, however, Oia is a space alien — at least with some help from a pair of massive pink sunglasses, two ping-pong balls attached to springs, and her favorite Walmart boots.She said her favorite Halloween candy is “anything chocolate,” and she plans to get tons of it by winning over her neighborhood sugar dispensers — aka the Flatbush adults — in her homemade alien costume, which also includes a shiny hot pink top and leggings, a neon plastic ray-gun and a gray wig.Why the hair?“That’s obvious!” Oia told The Post.

“It’s fun to wear a wig!”The 5-year-old is one of dozens of New York City kids who spoke with The Post about their Halloween costumes this year, along with children from across the five boroughs, Connecticut and New Jersey.The children were of various ages, economic backgrounds, cultural origins and candy preferences.(Who knew Sour Patch Kids could be so divisive?) But one thing remained true about these young New Yorkers: They couldn’t give a Twix about the nation’s trendiest costumes.Despite a Google Trends report listing Dolly Parton as the number one kids’ Halloween getup of 2026, The Post saw zero kids dressed up as the legendary “Jolene” crooner — or any of the other “top” disguises, including Hannah Montana, Pokémon’s Ash Ketchum and smiley-faced soup dumplings.Instead, New York kids like Oscar L.

from Brooklyn Heights decided to wear a homemade dragon costume.“I want to be the dragon because I read a lot of dragon books,” the 10-year-old told The Post, mentioning the “Wings of Fire” series by Tui T.

Sutherland as one of his favorites.“I think it’s really cool how the dragons are drawn.” Oscar and his younger brother Matis, 8, made their own costumes by cutting fabric into the shape of huge dragon wings, then sewing them onto the backs of their favorite h...