The Little Mermaid JR Costumes for School & Youth Theater

From one volunteer to another:The Little Mermaid JR has lots of underwater characters and visual variety, but the costumes don’t need to be complicated to work well onstage—this page shares practical notes on what’s worth sewing, what’s easier to buy or upcycle, and links to the resources that helped keep things manageable and budget-friendly.

Volunteer-made starfish costume for a youth theater production, featuring a large gold textured starfish headpiece, layered knit scarf in warm tones, sleeveless top, and flowing skirt designed for simple construction and stage movement.

Starfish costume: DIY Headpiece made from painted egg-crate foam

Volunteer-made Ursula costume for a youth theater production, created by upcycling a black dress and layering an Amazon octopus skirt costume with padded purple tentacles, paired with long gloves and a short white wig for a bold, stage-readable.

Ursula costume. Upcycled black dress with Amazon tentacles and necklace.

DIY seaweed costume for The Little Mermaid JR musical, featuring a green layered dress with leaf-shaped appliqués and fringe hem, paired with a headpiece upcycled from an Amazon succulent pillow to create a lightweight underwater ensemble look.

Seaweed costume: Succulent pillow turned headpiece

Amazon-purchased Ariel costume for a youth theater production, showing a quick-change design that transitions from a purple top and green mermaid tail to a knee-length green skirt for fast onstage changes.

Ariel costume. Amazon pieces make for an easy costume change!

Volunteer-made Scuttle costume for a youth theater production, created by upcycling a vest with layered leaf-shaped taffeta pieces to mimic feathers, paired with shorts, tights, and simple accessories for a lightweight, stage-friendly look.

Scuttle costume: upcycled vest using “leaf taffeta” fabric

Youth theater ensemble costumes for The Little Mermaid JR, featuring sewn rainbow fish, jellyfish, starfish, seahorse, and frog characters, paired with Amazon-purchased headpieces to create cohesive, budget-friendly underwater looks.
Shark costume for The Little Mermaid JR musical, featuring an Amazon-purchased foam shark headpiece paired with a simple gray tunic worn over black leggings and a black long-sleeve shirt for Ursula’s Lair ensemble scenes.

Ensemble Costume: Rainbow Fish, Jellyfish, Starfish, Seahorse, Frogs. Blend of DIY and Amazon headpieces

Shark costume: Simple tunic with foam shark headpiece.

Volunteer-made seahorse costume for a youth theater production, created by upcycling a Chinese-style vest, sewing loose knickers for movement, and pairing with a bedazzled Amazon seahorse headpiece for a cohesive underwater look.

Seahorse costume: Upcycles Chinese dress with a “blinged” foam headpiece.

Amazon Costume Resources

Here are a few of the costume pieces that worked for us.

Amazon-purchased purple sequined tank top used for an Ariel costume, providing a simple, lightweight base layer that pairs easily with a mermaid skirt or human outfit for quick onstage changes.
Amazon-purchased Ariel mermaid skirt with green sequined fabric and sheer tulle fin, designed for easy wear and quick onstage changes between mermaid and human looks.
Amazon-purchased plastic teeth originally designed for carved pumpkins, repurposed as exaggerated eel teeth to add dramatic detail and stage visibility to eel puppets in The Little Mermaid JR musical.
Amazon-purchased foam seahorse headpiece in yellow with orange fin details, used to quickly define a seahorse character for a youth theater production without complex costuming.
Amazon-purchased octopus skirt in purple and black with elastic waistband and bendable tentacles, used to quickly create an Ursula-style silhouette for a youth theater production.
Amazon-purchased frog headband with plush green eyes, worn by ensemble frog characters during the “Kiss the Girl” scene to quickly signal character without full costuming.
Amazon-purchased octopus skirt in purple and black with elastic waistband and bendable tentacles, used to quickly create an Ursula-style silhouette for a youth theater production.
Amazon-purchased succulent pillow in soft green fabric, upcycled into a lightweight headpiece to represent seaweed for a youth theater costume.
Volunteer-made evil eel puppet for a youth theater production, sewn from an Etsy pattern and paired with a simple black costume and arm-mounted design to represent Ursula’s eels with clear movement. yellow eyes, black spiky hair, and white fangs

Flotsam & Jetsam Puppet created from Etsy pattern

Gold shell necklace worn as Ursula’s magic pendant, representing the shell that captures Ariel’s voice, paired with a black cord for clear visibility onstage in a youth theater production.

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Amazon-purchased foam shark headpiece used for a youth theater production, providing a clear, lightweight shark character for Ursula’s Lair scenes without requiring a full costume build.