Mummy Trick-or-Treat Coloring Page: Free PDF Sheet

Mummy Costume Trick-or-Treat: History & Fun Facts

Ancient Egypt and the Real Mummy

Ancient Egyptians began wrapping bodies in strips of linen more than four thousand years ago as part of a careful preservation process meant to protect the body for the afterlife, using dozens of yards of cloth wound layer by layer. That same wrapped-in-strips look, stripped of its original religious meaning, became the visual template every costume-shop mummy wrap still borrows today.

How the Mummy Became a Costume Character

Hollywood horror films from the 1930s, especially Universal Pictures' The Mummy in 1932, introduced the bandage-wrapped monster to a mass audience and turned an archaeological subject into a household Halloween character within a single generation. Costume makers quickly adapted the movie look into something far friendlier and easier to wear, swapping torn, dusty wrappings for clean strips of fabric a child could move around in comfortably.

Trick-or-Treating Becomes a Nationwide Tradition

Door-to-door trick-or-treating spread widely across the United States in the 1930s and 1940s once sugar rationing eased after World War II, and by the 1950s it was firmly established as the centerpiece of American Halloween night. Candy companies leaned into the tradition quickly, producing bite-size wrapped treats specifically designed for handing out in bulk to costumed visitors.

The Jack-O-Lantern Candy Bucket

Plastic pumpkin-shaped candy buckets became a trick-or-treat staple by the 1960s and 1970s, prized for being lightweight, sturdy enough to carry a full night's haul, and instantly recognizable even in the dark thanks to bright orange plastic. A pumpkin bucket in a child's hand signals trick-or-treat night just as clearly as a costume does, which is why it appears alongside the mummy wrap in this scene.

Waving Hello Instead of Scaring

Illustrators drawing costumes for young children almost always choose a friendly wave or open smile over a menacing pose, since the goal is a character kids want to color and enjoy rather than one meant to frighten. That small choice, a raised waving hand instead of reaching arms, is often the single detail that shifts a mummy from horror-movie monster to approachable trick-or-treater.

Homemade Bandage Costumes

A mummy costume is one of the easiest Halloween outfits to put together at home, since strips of white fabric, gauze, or even torn bedsheets wrapped over regular clothes can create a convincing wrap without any sewing at all. That do-it-yourself simplicity is part of why the mummy remains a popular costume choice across generations, requiring little more than time, tape, and a roll of cloth strips.

What Makes a Costume Kid-Friendly to Color

Wrapping lines drawn in overlapping diagonal strips give a coloring page plenty of natural sections to fill in one at a time, unlike a plain smooth costume with almost no internal lines at all. Combined with a simple round face and a candy bag full of small shapes, this scene offers a mix of larger open wrapping bands and a few smaller detail areas, giving colorers of different ages and skill levels something to work with, whether they prefer broad strokes across the wide bandage bands or careful small strokes inside the little candy shapes peeking out of the bag.