© 2026 ABC News

The toddler also won first place in a local costume contest, according to his mom.

\"This year will be his first time actually trick-or-treating, and I wanted something unique and original for him to wear,\" Thomas told Storyful. \"So we decided on Big Bird, which took a few days for me to make.\"

\"PHOTO:
Jenna Thomas via Storyful
PHOTO: 15-month-old Eli Thomas dresses up in a homemade Big Bird costume for Halloween.
>

Fellow parents were amazed that she got her son to wear his full Big Bird costume, including the head piece. Thomas revealed she had a plan for that, too.

\"The only way I could get him to leave the hat on was by telling him that he would go outside, but he had to wear a hat,\" she said. \"We live in Montana and we’ve already had cold weather, so he understands needing a hat to go outside.”

","canonicalUrl":"https://abcnews.com/GMA/Living/15-month-dressed-big-bird-halloween-wins-top/story?id=66632569","legacySlug":"/living/story/15-month-dressed-big-bird-halloween-wins-top-66632569","noIndexNoFollow":false},"publishTime":"14:12","publishDate":"10-30-2019","updatedTime":"14:24","updatedDate":"10-31-2019","socialImage":{"alt":"15-month-old Eli Thomas dresses up in a homemade Big Bird costume for Halloween.","credit":"Jenna Thomas via Storyful","ratio":"16x9","url":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/big-bird-costume-ht-ml-191030_hpMain_v12x5_16x9_1600.jpg","width":992,"height":558},"datePublished":"10/30/2019 14:12:00 GMT","video":{"live":false,"id":66632569,"headline":"Toddler dressed as Big Bird wins Halloween","mediaAssetTitle":"GMA_BIG BIRD HALLOWEEN_191030","description":"The elaborate costume was handmade by the boy's mother. ","duration":"0:24","posterImg":{"url":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/default-img-undefined.png","width":608,"height":342},"video":{"feed":"https://service-pkgabcnews.akamaized.net/opp/hls/abcnews/2019/10/191030_gma_pop_bigbird_812_,500,800,1200,1800,2500,3200,4500,.mp4.csmil/playlist.m3u8"},"playlist":["66580712","66378817","65599347"]},"relatedItems":[{"contentType":"story","date":"October 28, 2019","headline":"Gabrielle Union twins with daughter in throwback 'Bring It On' cheerleader costumes","section":"culture","slug":"/culture/story/gabrielle-union-twins-daughter-throwback-bring-cheerleader-costumes-66580712","id":66580712,"image":{"alt":"Gabrielle Union twins with daughter in throwback 'Bring It On' cheerleader costumes","url":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/gabrielle-union-ht-aa-191028_hpMain_4x3t_240.jpg","credit":"Gabrielle Union/Instagram","ratio":"1x1"}},{"contentType":"story","date":"October 21, 2019","headline":"Halloween spending expected to reach an un-BOO-lievable $8.8 billion in 2019","section":"living","slug":"/living/story/halloween-spending-expected-reach-boo-lievable-88-billion-66378817","id":66378817,"image":{"alt":"Halloween spending expected to reach an un-BOO-lievable $8.8 billion in 2019","url":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/GTY_halloween_house_jef_151020_hpMain_2_4x3t_240.jpg","credit":"STOCK PHOTO/Getty Images","ratio":"1x1"}},{"contentType":"story","date":"October 5, 2020","headline":"Pinterest recipes for Halloween including fangtastic appetizers, desserts, and drinks","section":"food","slug":"/food/story/made-top-10-pinterest-halloween-recipes-65599347","id":65599347,"image":{"alt":"Pinterest recipes for Halloween including fangtastic appetizers, desserts, and drinks","url":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/MainImage_HalloweenRecipes_v01_sd_hpMain_4x3t_240.jpg","credit":"GMA","ratio":"1x1"}}],"relatedContentSection":"news","schemaContent":{"name":"Toddler dressed as Big Bird wins Halloween","description":"The elaborate costume was handmade by the boy's mother. ","duration":"0:24","uploadDate":"10-30-2019","publication":"10-30-2019","images":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/default-img-undefined.png","url":"https://service-pkgabcnews.akamaized.net/opp/hls/abcnews/2019/10/191030_gma_pop_bigbird_812_,500,800,1200,1800,2500,3200,4500,.mp4.csmil/playlist.m3u8","contentUrl":"https://service-pkgabcnews.akamaized.net/opp/hls/abcnews/2019/10/191030_gma_pop_bigbird_812_,500,800,1200,1800,2500,3200,4500,.mp4.csmil/playlist.m3u8","link":"https://www.goodmorningamerica.com/living/story/15-month-dressed-big-bird-halloween-wins-top-66632569"}},"playlist":[{"id":"133616342","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133522899","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133584123","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133579397","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133482839","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133390157","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133415361","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133414032","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133380485","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133358298","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133350119","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133307515","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133307527","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133282665","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133220149","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133179167","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133144373","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133144059","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133143081","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133075455","contentType":"story","section":"news"}],"kvps":{"pgtyp":"article","lang":"en","sp":"goodmorningamerica","programmatic":"true","bundleId":"com.abcnews"}},"analytics":{"accountID":"wdgnewwdgnewgmaweb","ns":"gma","pageName":"gma:living:video","pageType":"video","globalSpecVersion":"v1.08","siteDifferentiator":"gma:site","tagID":"g_page01","userABCookie":"0","section":"living","title":"Toddler dressed as Big Bird wins Halloween","pubTime":"10:12","pubDate":"10-30-2019","modTime":"10:24","modDate":"10-31-2019","taxonomyTags":"none","id":66632569,"editorialOtherSubjects":"","wordCount":"none","columns":"none","authors":"","authorsUnit":"none","authorsBureau":"none","subBrand":"Good Morning America","provider":"Good Morning America","videoName":"Toddler dressed as Big Bird wins Halloween","mediaAssetTitle":"GMA_BIG BIRD HALLOWEEN_191030","videoId":66632569,"mediaOnPage":"video","legacySlug":"/living/story/15-month-dressed-big-bird-halloween-wins-top-66632569"},"taboola":{}},"request":{"headers":{},"httpVersion":"1.1","method":"GET","url":"/video/66632569","vary":{"host":"www.goodmorningamerica.com","cached":true,"path":"/video/66632569","forwarded-proto":"https","device":"desktop","userab":"0"}},"viewport":{"width":1260,"height":0},"user":{}};