World Book Day costumes are always a tricky one. The school will often have no theme at all and playground full of princesses, or a really strict theme you can never find any last minute costumes for. My kids have been at both kinds of schools, and let me tell you – if it has a theme, it’s almost always Roald Dahl. And why not? Kids love his books and Roald Dahl created a world full of colourful characters!
I’ve rounded up the Roald Dahl characters you can get away with dressing your kids as for this year’s World Book Day. I’ve included a mix of costumes you can buy (for the lazy parents like me) and you can make (for the skint parents – also like me, but on a more ambitious day).
This list contains affiliate links so classes as an ad – but I have not been paid for it. All opinions are my own.
1. The BFG Costume
The BFG is definitely one of the easier costumes to put together for World Book Day. In the book he’s depicted to be wearing green trousers, a white top and a brown waistcoat. Admittedly these are a bit raggy, but if you didn’t want cut and rip perfectly good clothes, I think you could get away with undamaged clothes.
The BFG is easily recognised by his massive ears, so you need to make sure you’ve got some. These are super easy to make, you just need a couple of paper plates and a headband. Paint the plates to match your skin tone, then once they’re dry, fold them over the band of a plain head band and glue the front to the back so it won’t budge. You can then add detail to the front to make it look more like an ear.
If you’re feeling extra crafty, the BFG has white tufts of hair at the side of his head, so you could glue on some white furry material or white felt neat the ears for extra effect.
Of course, if you’re not so crafty – you can buy a costume. Here’s a link to a budget BFG costume that’s just ears and a top, or if you’re out to impress – this one has the whole shebang.
2. Sophie From the BFG Costume
Creating a Sophie costume from the BFG is super easy. She was taken in the night from an orphanage so she’s just wearing an old nightie. Sophie is also depicted as wearing glasses, so if you don’t have a glasses-wearer on your hands you could probably get hold of some without lenses in. My suggestions would be to grab a pair from your local Poundland and pop the lenses out.
As for the nightie, an oversized plain T-shirt would do. It doesn’t have to fit very well because she’s supposed to be a poor orphan. I’d suggest wearing shorts and tights underneath because English weather isn’t very forgiving in March.
You can buy a Sophie from the BFG costume, but the look is much posher than the book suggests. It’s actually a very cute costume though, so don’t discount it!
3. The Enormous Crocodile Costume
The Enormous Crocodile might seem like costume that you can’t easily conjure up but really all you need is a green long-sleeved top and green trousers. You can make a crocodile head of a long egg box painted green and attach it to a basic head band (if you can’t quite visualise it, search “crocodile egg box” on Pinterest and watch the inspiration and instructions float in).
But if you prefer to buy your costumes, Amazon have this great one. You could always keep an eye out for a crocodile onesie but it’s hit and miss which animals are on-trend in onesie fashion at any given time.
4. Willy Wonka Costume
Willy Wonka is always a favourite for World Book Day. He’s such a fun and eccentric character, it’s no surprise lots of kids want to dress as him. Plus, owning a chocolate factory seems pretty cool, right?
To make your own Willy Wonka Costume (and for it to be vaguely recognisable) you need 4 key components – a purple blazer, a large bow tie, a top hat and a cane. Weirdly, charity shops seem to be flooded with these items all year round. You could probably pick up everything you need for under a tenner if you looked hard enough.
But if you’re having to chase around and buy things anyway, it might be worth just buying a full new costume. There’s loads out there to choose from, but my preferred Willy Wonka costume is this official one by Rubies.
5. An Oompa Loompa Costume
Sticking with the chocolate factory theme, an oompa loompa costume might be a bit more up your street. If you’re going to go for it with this costume, then you really need to go for it. Orange face paint is a must.
If you’re going to try and get this ensemble together yourself then you’ll need a black top, white dungarees, white cloth gloves, an orange face paint and a green curly wig. I think they’d all be a faff to source, so I’d just buy this costume.
6. Charlie Bucket from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory Costume
Personally I think this one is super simple. Charlie was a poor boy who lived a basic life. You could get away with sending your child in a basic t-shirt and jeans combo. They just need a big golden ticket to waft around. I’d recommend this costume if you’ve got a child who’s a bit shy about dressing up.
If you want a done-for-you costume, you can buy this Charlie Bucket costume that should arrive in time for World Book Day (unless you are reading this on World Book Day morning, then I’m afraid you’ve left it too late).
7. Fantastic Mr Fox Costume
If you’re aiming to out this costume together yourself, it should be quite simple – brown clothing is mostly what he wore and you could either use face paint on your child’s face to turn them into a fox or (if you’re not that arty) buy a fox hat for them to wear.
Or a full costume is available to buy for under 20 quid.
8. Matilda Costume
Matilda should be easy to create at home. A simple dress, a near hairstyle and a massive book as a prop should do the trick. You could probably even get away with a gingham summer school dress if you really didn’t want to spend any money.
If you’re after a more cohesive looking costume, then buying one like this is probably for the best.
9. Miss Trunchbull Costume
Miss Trunchbull is a strict and bossy teacher who wears her hair in a high up bun. This should be quite easy to put together. Basic but smart-looking clothes should do the trick and make sure hair is tied up in a a tight top knot.
As always, you can take the stress out of it all and buying a costume like this one.
10. The Twits Costume
Mr and Mrs Twit were messy, scruffy and grumpy. This is a great costume if you have siblings at the same school or it’s fine as a standalone singular Twit. If you’re keen on making this costume you could have a lot of fun with some old unloved clothes. You could cut holes in the fabric, splash diluted bleach on the clothes to create the illusion of stains and even rub a used (still wet) tea bag in areas of the clothes to make them look dirty.
You can also have fun messing up your child’s hair as part of the costume.
If you’re a little short on time, you could just buy a Mrs Twit costume or a Mr Twit costume.
World Book Day can also be a fantastic opportunity to encourage a love of reading and creativity in children. For those interested in supporting children in educational settings, there are also a range of teaching assistant courses available that can help develop the skills needed to work in schools and classrooms.
Personally, I think any of these characters make for a fun thing to dress up as for World Book Day. Are there any characters you think should have made it into this post? Let me know in the comments!