10 quick and easy World Book Day costume ideas!
It’s time to raid the wardrobes and make a mad dash for the craft box – World Book Day is now just days away! So, we’ve rounded up some of the best quick and easy World Book Day costume ideas on Pinterest to give you some inspiration.
For World Book Day 2023 we’ve also created new packs of FREE World Book Day costume props! Check them out here: World Book Day Costume Ideas Incl. FREE Costume Props!
1. The Snail and the Whale – Julia Donaldson
A dark t-shirt with the snail’s trail of “save the whale” either drawn on with fabric paint or sewn on with simple white stiches. Then perch a snail on the shoulder – make with felt or even a rolled up sausage of of newspaper.
They could carry a whale toy or teddy to finish off the look, if you have one.
2. Charlotte’s Webb – E B White
You could get away with simply carrying a pig and a spider for this one! Perhaps wear a checked shirt to signify the farm.
If you want to put a bit more effort in, you could create a spider’s web with ‘Some pig’ written on – either directly on to a t-shirt with stitching/fabric pen or on to a sheet draped around the child’s shoulders.
3. The BFG – Roald Dahl
To re-create the Big Friendly Giant simply paint some paper plates pink and attach to a head band. Fashion together a cape and accessorise with a rolled up paper dream trumpet and a suitcase/bag to carry the dreams.
4. The Day the Crayons Quit – Drew Daywalt
Children can simply dress head to toe in their chosen colour! Create a hat out of a cone of paper to match that colour and attach some black jagged paper around the sleeve cuffs and ankles. For an extra touch you could make a placard with a quote from that crayon e.g. “It’s NOT FAIR!” You could also go the whole hog with some matching face paint.
5. Mr Men / Little Miss books – Roger Hargreaves
You are spoilt for choice for characters in the Mr Men and Little Miss series! Either go down the route of a cardboard tabard or dress in the character’s colour and add a hairstyle and accessorise!
6. The Lorax – Dr. Seuss
Grab a pair of old glasses and take the lenses out or fashion some out of orange pipe-cleaners. Add some yellow eyebrows and a mustache and pair with an orange top and you’re done! You could push the boat out with some Truffla Trees too – a feather duster perhaps?
7. Aliens love underpants – Claire Freedman & Ben Cort
Decide what colour you would like your alien to be, then dress head to toe in that colour. Simply add a fetching pair of pants (or shorts) over the top. You could go further with face paint and a head band with some wobbly-goggly eyes!
8. The Very Hungry Caterpillar – Eric Carle
Simple but very effective! You’ll just need some paper, scissors and glue for this one. Join green circles to make the caterpillar body, add legs to each. Make a red paper head band and add purple antennae and a couple of eyes out of yellow and green circles.
9. The Dinosaur That Pooped Series – Tom Fletcher and Dougie Poynter
Well the Pinterest title says it’s easy! The key to this one is adding spikes to red clothing NB: The Dinosaur in the book has rounded red spikes and a yellow and red striped tail so just adapt the shapes and colours to match.
You could also exchange the cap for a red hoody instead.
10. The Dictionary!
If it is a really last minute panic simply whack a few words on any outfit and be the dictionary! All stories can be made from the words on it’s pages after all…
Don’t put too much pressure on yourself!
If you have a fancy dress box – search for books that have a pirate, a princess, a super hero, a horse, a doctor, an astronaut or whatever outfit options you already have – you’ll find something that works!
There are also many books that feature school children – Starting School, Matilda for a start so perhaps you don’t have to do much at all.
For World Book Day 2023 we’ve also created new packs of FREE World Book Day costume props! Check them out here: World Book Day Costume Ideas Incl. FREE Costume Props!
The most important thing you can do on World Book Day is read a book! If you have a reluctant reader, have a read of our blog 10 ways to encourage children to love reading for some top tips.
More character inspiration on Busy Things!
Did you know that we have lots of book extracts on Busy Things? Mini Grey’s ‘The Last Wolf’, Jamia Wilson’s ‘Young, Gifted and Black’ and Cressida Cowell’s ‘How to Train Your Dragon’ to name just a few. Each book is supported with lots of comprehension activities too – quizzes, grammar highlighting and write a book and character review challenges. If you’re a Busy Things subscriber – Log in now and get stuck in a book!
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