Top 10 World Book Day Costume Ideas for Teachers
World Book Day is just around the corner (7th March), and it is time to start thinking about how to celebrate the global day of reading. Most schools across the country encourage their students to come in wearing an outfit that is dedicated to their favourite book or character. As well as the children, teachers also love dressing up and embodying the spirit of World Book Day. However, it can be tough coming up with a different outfit every year. Here Anna, our teacher guest blogger, gives us her top 10 costumes – she’s dressed as everything from Amelia Earhart to Peter Pan, via Cleopatra!
If you are stuck for what to wear this year, here are our top 10 World Book Day costume ideas for busy teachers.
1. Where’s Wally
A great last minute costume, or if you are on a budget. Dressing up as Where’s Wally is instantly recognisable for children, but only requires a stripey top, jeans, glasses, and a woolly hat. You can then have hours of fun hiding around school for children to find you!
2. Harry Potter
Harry Potter and the other characters created by J.K Rowling are still incredibly popular. There are plenty of outfits available for dressing up, as well as male and female options. Many children choose to dress up as a Harry Potter character, giving some great photo opportunities for the school newsletter too.
3. Superhero Character
Children see you as their hero, so why not dress up as one?! You will make a big impact when you walk into assembly dressed as Spiderman- all you need to do now is climb up some walls. Some superhero outfits can be quite unforgiving, so choose wisely!
4. Real Life Hero
Excellent books such as Fantastically Great Women Who Changed the World showcase all the amazing women who had an impact on modern life in some way. One of these is Amelia Earhart, the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean. This is a great conversation starter with children, who will be curious as to your costume- this can lead to a whole lesson where you explore these women’s achievements.
5. Alice in Wonderland
This is one example of a classic story that has endless opportunities for fancy dress. If you enjoy putting on a costume, then the Queen of Hearts may be for you; if you are more understated, then Tweedledee and Tweedledum are a good option- they also allow you to dress up alongside your favourite teacher colleague!
6. Mary Poppins
I have personally worn this outfit a few times, as it can double up for a Victorian day too! Dressing up as Mary Poppins allows you to inhabit the character and pull things out of your bag to amaze the children, although I can’t guarantee you will be able to fly 🙂
7. The Day the Crayons Quit
This is a costume mainly for younger children, but if you want something that is clear and obvious what you are dressed up as, then this is perfect. You can dress up together as a year group, so everyone has a costume and a different colour of crayon.
8. A Costume Based Around Your Topic
If you want to link your costume to what you are learning about at the moment with your class, having a theme is a great idea. You can even extend it to the children- I did this with a Year 6 class once, using the theme of ‘Explorers.’ The children loved seeing everyone’s different interpretations and a great day was had by all!
9. Roald Dahl Characters
There are plenty of costumes for the plethora of fantastic characters that Dahl created in his books; from Willy Wonka to Fantastic Mr Fox and the BFG. All of the characters are well-known, through film and TV as well as in print, so children will recognise and appreciate your efforts, as well as enjoy hearing the original story that your character has come from.
10. An Animal Character
Dressing up as an animal always incites excitement from children, as well as the added bonus of keeping you warm and comfortable throughout the day! Animals are featured in so many books, that you can take your pick. From Julia Donaldson to Tom Fletcher, there are real life animals or mythical ones, something for everyone!
For lots of other ideas for how to celebrate, take a look at the official World Book Day website.
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