10 Last Minute World Book Day Costume Ideas

World Book Day, it creeps up on us every year, doesn’t it? And no matter how organised we try to be, sometimes life gets in the way, sometimes the school lets you know very last minute and sometimes your child changes their mind ten times leaving you flustered and confused – we’ve certainly had the latter happen this year!! And this is why I wanted to provide some last-minute World Book Day costume ideas that are quite easy to create and should leave everybody happy.

1. Harry and The Bucketful of Dinosaurs

We did this one a few years ago and it was so simple but looked really good. All you need is:

• Jeans or blue trousers
• Striped T Shirt
• Red cardigan/zip up top or light jacket
• Trainers
• A bucket
• Toy dinosaurs

To make it cost effective look in charity shops, on Vinted/Facebook marketplace etc or ask to borrow items from friends.

2. Matilda

Matilda is a great choice for World Book Day, after all, she does love books!! The best thing about this character is that you could choose to dress your child up the way Matilda appears in the book, you could choose her look from the first movie or perhaps choose her clothing or the school uniform from the musical. In general, Matilda is recognisable due to the red ribbon in her hair, a blue dress, white cardigan, white socks, shoes and, of course, an armful of books.

3. Mr Bump

The Mr Men books are so popular and there are just so many characters you could choose from. Last year we went for Mr Tickle but this did take quite a bit of crafting so for this last minute costume ideas blog I thought I would talk about Mr Bump. All you will need are blue trousers and jumper plus plenty of bandages. I’m sure you’ll have loads of fun wrapping your kid up!!

4. Paddington Bear

Paddington is a fun yet simple costume to come up with. You’ll need his iconic red hat which could be any red hat you already own or you could ask family/friends if they have any you could borrow or check out the charity shops. His only clothing is his blue duffle coat so you’llwant to dress in normal clothes underneath this or perhaps you could source a bear fancy dress outfit? To go that little bit further you could craft some bear ears or maybe dig out your Pudsey Bear ears as a good alternative. The finishing touch would be a tag attached to the coat and a small suitcase.

5. The Witch from Room on The Broom

The witch from this book wears a purple skirt, a red top, a cape and a witches hat. She wears her hair in a plait, holds a wand and of course has a broom. This should be quite an easy look to recreate with items you own. If you struggle with finding these, most little girls will have a witches outfit in their dressing up box from Halloween so this could easily be a World Book Day costume too.

6. The Day The Crayons Quit

Let your child choose which colour crayon they’d like to be and dress them in clothing of that shade. Craft a cone-shaped hat out of coloured card and secure with an elastic and maybe face paint their faces too.

7. What The Ladybird Heard

There are a number of characters you could choose from in this book.

• Ladybird – red and spotty dress or red clothing with black spots made out of paper stuck over
• Animals – horse, duck, cow, cat, dog, there are plenty of options and if you own a fancy dress outfit of any of these this would do the trick
• Hefty Hugh or Lanky Len – the two burglars are identified by their woolly hats, eye mask (Len), jumpers, jeans and boots. You could add a sack and a torch to really show who your child is

You May Also Like:

• How to Make a Highway Rat World Book Day Costume
• How to Make a Mr Tickle World Book Day Costume
• How to Make a Harry and The Bucketful of Dinosaurs World Book Day Costume
• How To Make A Diary of a Wimpy Kid World Book Day Costume

8. Jurassic Park

Dinosaur costumes are a popular purchase, so if you have any versions, this could easily be one of the dinos from Jurassic Park. Or you could choose to go as either of the lead characters – Dr. Alan Grant and Dr. Ellie Sattler. For Dr. Grant you will need:

• Khaki trousers
• Denim shirt
• Red neckerchief
• Hat
• Boots

To be Dr. Sattler you’ll need:

• Light coloured shorts
• Boots
• Vlue t shirt or vest top
• Salmon pink/orangey coloured shirt

9. Funny Bones

Halloween costumes coming in handy again. If you have skeleton outfits these are ideal for the Funny Bones characters. All you’ll then need to do is either facepaint your child’s face or make a mask to wear or hold. The big skeleton wears a red top hat so you could try to source one or add this onto the mask. You could also think about crafting the dog out of cardboard which could be attached to a lead, taped onto the outfit or just carried.

10. The Tiger who Came To Tea – Sophie

Sophie is another easy character to dress up as. She wears a purple dress over a blue long sleeved top, patterned tights, t-bar shoes (school shoes would work) and wears her hair in a plait with a blue ribbon. If you have a cuddly toy tiger she could carry this into school too.

And if all else fails, a superhero or fairy/princess are always the simplest of all the costumes because most people have these in their homes and there are A LOT of books that feature all of these types of characters. Have fun with it and I hope your child has a brilliant World Book day this year!!

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