Crafty costumes for World Book Day
It’s the day that kids love but some parents secretly dread... with the ‘what on earth’ am I going to dress them up in being at the forefront of parents minds.
World Book Day happens on the first Thursday of March each year; this year it is the 3rd March and is extra special as it’s the 25th anniversary since World Book Day was first launched. There’s no denying it, the children love it, they love celebrating by dressing up as their favorite book characters. Thankfully, my son tells me he wants to be Mr Stink (by David Walliams), so I draw a sigh of relief, I mean how hard can that be...right?!
Shockingly,some research carried out by the National Lottery in 2021, suggested that around 400,000 children in the UK do not own a book at home, which can have an impact on their academic performance. Thanks to World Book Day, over 14 million book tokens are given out to schools, nurseries and book stores, giving children a chance to pick out a book of their choice, and a chance to enjoy reading.
If you are thinking about what you are going to dress your child up in, simplicity is always key. There are many routes to go down, some straightforward costumes can be found from your child's wardrobe at home.
Here’s some ideas:
If your daughter goes to ballet class, she can wear her pink leotard,skirt, tights and shoes then add a pair of mouse ears and a tail and go as Angelina Ballerina.
You could find a pink and white striped dress and dress your daughter as Milly Molly Mandy. Add a pair of white socks and their black school shoes and it would be perfect. Also, you may want to add a straw hat and basket.
You could find some blue jeans and a pink white and green stripe top and get dressed up as Strawberry Shortcake. Very simple but recognisable.
A simple quick outfit idea from your child's wardrobe would be Horrid Henry.
You would just need a pair of blue jeans and a blue and yellow stripe jumper.
Find a brown top, and brown trousers, and a brown cardboard/box for the head - ideally make the cardboard into a tube shape, and roll, cut the top into a jagged shape. Draw on round eyes with black pen, and colour. Use a toilet role tube for the nose, and a wide line smile for the mouth.
Another idea would be Peter Rabbit. A pair of brown trousers, white t-shirt and blue shirt which you could pick from the wardrobe and then just a pair of rabbit ears.
You could get a red t-shirt, a yellow pair of trousers and some bear
ears and go as Winnie the Pooh.
If you have a gold tie, you can draw on with fabric pens or paint on red stripes. Add a pair a black round plastic glasses, and a short stick for a wand, with facepaints draw on a lightening strike type scar - actually the shape of an oversized 'N' on the forehead and you have transformed into Harry!
This has to be a simple outfit. Simply cut out of cardboard a large circle, and do stripes across in white and light blue. Two black round eyes and a black wide smile. Do another circle for the back, paint in blue. Attach the two circle pieces across the top, with two wide strips of cardboard. Wear light blue jeans, or leggins underneath and light blue top.