Easy Book Week Costumes For Teachers

Book Week is almost upon us, and whether you enjoy dressing up or not, it is an excellent opportunity to connect with your inner ‘kid’, be a little silly and have some fun with your students. After all, Book Week is all about celebrating reading, which is one of our shared goals as teachers!

To help you get into the fun, without all the thinking and worrying about costumes, we have put together a list of some awesome (but easy) Book Week costume ideas for teachers.

We have tried to make it as straightforward as possible and included links to videos, websites or stores where you can purchase or locate specific items (Note: none of these items are sponsored or endorsed in any way).

Individual Costume Ideas:

Claris the Chicest Mouse in Paris

My daughter is in love with the ‘Claris the Chicest Mouse in Paris’ series. All you need for this costume are some fancy clothes to pull this one off (for adults, we suggest giving the local thrift store a search to see what you can find!)

No one Likes a Fart

This has got to be the easiest costume and one that will give everyone (kids and adults alike) a chuckle. Our fart is simply a cloud drawn on brown wrapping paper with the face drawn on with sharpie!

The Rainbow Fish

This is such a gorgeous costume idea and doesn’t need to be super complicated when putting it together (find a simple video of how to make it here).

We love how @schoolyard.shenanigans even matched her makeup to take her costume to the next level!

Pig the Pug

What child doesn’t love Aaron Blabey’s ‘Pig the Pug’ series? This costume is fun but so easy! The mask pictured is actually from Kmart, however, if you can no longer find it there are also other printable options like this one on Etsy. @learnlovegrow we think your Pig costume is awesome!

@learnlovegrow dressed up as Pig the Pug

Where’s Wally

This is a classic for Book Week and super simple. If you have done a Wally dress up before, check out this inspiration for using the same red and white t-shirt to dress up as a different book character.

We also have a super fun school Wally hunt. Read about it and grab your free printable here.

Grug

This is a homemade number that actually is a lot easier than it looks. All you need some scissors, glue, a large box (to create Grug’s outline, eyes and nose) and plenty of brown and gold strips of felt. Simply tassel the gold and brown felt and glue lengthways over your Grug outline. Add the eyes and nose over the top at the end.

Elf on the Shelf

Bringing out a Christmas costume is always a bit of fun outside the festive season! Seek out your Christmas supplies that are stored away to get yourself a Santa Hat and pair it with something red!

Thelma the Unicorn

This is another great Aaron Blabey book that is ideal for book week (can you tell we are massive fans). Pair a tutu (you can find them in most bargain stores or online at the Base Warehouse) with something pink and add a unicorn horn on your head. You can create a horn with a headband and card or use a silver party hat!

The Very Hungry Caterpillar

This picture book also lends itself to a team dress up idea if everyone takes on a piece of food the caterpillar eats on his journey. Here are 2 easy ways to recreate the caterpillar:

Purchase an oversized green t-shirt and paint stripes on it using a lighter green paint. The hat can be made from a kids red beanie and all the features are simply cardboard stuck on with super glue (this is a pic of Ashleigh a few moons ago!)

Here is an even easier option, using just card. Simply use a dinner plate to trace your green circles and put them together. In this picture, the head is made of a red plastic picnic plate, but it could easily be created with red card as well!

The Paper Bag Princess

Grab yourself a roll of brown wrapping paper, cut off a piece almost double your size, snip a hole in the middle for your head and voila! All you need to do from here is accessorise with a crown and you are done. This could definitely be a night before throw together!

Olivia

We love how this clever teacher (an old grade partner of ours!) has teamed red and white stripes with a red tutu to create her Olivia costume. She has even gone all out and sprayed her hair red! You could totally use this outfit one year and recycle it for a ‘Where’s Wally’ look the next!

Diary of a Wimpy Kid

Perfect if you teach older grades and so simple (you could organise it the night before!) All you need for Wimpy Kid success is to dress in black and white (add a backpack if you are keen) and print off a wimpy kid mask. Find a copy of a free printable here.

Image sources from Mrs Mommy Holic’s Blog.

A Golden Ticket (from Charlie and the Chocolate Family)

Again, this idea could easily be adapted for a team costume idea with others dressing up as Willy Wonka, Oomph Loompas and/or Augustus Gloop!

@little_learners_big_ideas has recycled a cardboard box to create her golden ticket. You could even add some glitter if you don’t mind cleaning up glitter for weeks, possibly months after the event!

Dharma the Lama

Dharma might be the most perfect of Matt Cosgrove’s characters for book week, considering how much of an avid reader she is! On Matt’s website, he has crafts and dress up ideas for all his Macca the Alpaca series. Here is the link this Dharma mask.

Find other Macca the Alpaca inspired ideas here on Matt Cosgrove’s site for free!

Don’t let the Pigeon Drive the Bus

A great book that your students will surely recognise. Dress in blue and create this mask using a paper plate, some blue paint and coloured paper! If your team wanted to work together, you could attend book week as a flock of pigeons.

WeirDo

This could be the simplest last min costume you ever put together – and will be instantly recognisable in a primary school. Wear a white shirt, black shorts and print this Weir mask! We found the mask for free here.

There’s a Shark in the Dark

This could be used for any shark book really. Dress in a comfy grey tracksuit and find a shark head or mask (this one is old from Cotton On).

Busting

One of my fave’s for teaching the ‘oo’ diagraph! @learnwithplayathome got creative with this costume idea!

Piranhas don’t eat bananas

Another Aaron Blabey favourite. I have searched for years for a great Piranhas don’t eat bananas dress up idea and this one from @learnwithplayathome is the best I’ve seen (and it uses recycled materials too).

Team Costume Ideas:

Pig the Pug (as a team)

Ask everyone in your team to come as a different version of Pig. Add a Santa hat for Pig the Elf, some mud and shower cap for Pig the Grub, backpack, Hawaiian shirt and a camera for Pig the Tourist, a TV remote and junk food for Pig the Blob, a cap backwards and sunnies for Pig the Star, Halloween costume for Pig the Monster, a red crayon and bowling ball for Pig the Fibber, a gold medal for Pig the Winner and so on!

Where is the Green Sheep

We love this book and equally love how clever @missgirlingsclassroom and her team were in creating costumes for it! They combined a large t-shirt with some pillow stuffing and spray paint. Could be easily done in an evening (although we don’t suggest the evening before… allow yourself a day for the paint to dry!)

@missgirlingsclassroom and her team dressed as ‘Where is the Green Sheep?’

The Day the Crayons Quit

This book has become a crowd favourite and therefore is a fabulous book to dress up as. You could go as a single crayon or mix up the colours to work as a team. All you need to make this costume work is a coloured t-shirt, party hat and a sign saying “I quit!” (or something similar).

Little Miss costumes

The possibilities for this one are endless. You could match your characters to your personality or have a bit of fun with it! We even saw an image online of a ‘Little Miss Bump’ and the teacher was pregnant (that gave us a little giggle!)

@teachingwithmissle dressed up as Little Miss Giggle

How cute does @teachingwithmissle look dressed as Little Miss!

And here is a team of teachers dressed in different Little Miss/Mr costumes!

Dr Seuss’s Things

Everyone knows the cheeky Thing 1 and Thing 2! Red t-shirts, blue tutu’s and a blue wig is all you need (you could spray your hair blue or use a feather boa like the ladies in this pic). It is a fun team outfit and you don’t have to limit your numbers!

Alice in Wonderland

There are so many characters in Alice in Wonderland. If you’re one of those teachers who like to go all out you can, but to keep things simple you could do a team dress up as the card soldiers. Wear all black and join two white poster sized pieces of paper together with two thin straps of paper. Draw any card, such as the ace of spades and over your shoulders it goes!

Other Awesome Ideas to get into the Book Week Spirit:

Perform a book as a staff to the school. Alisha’s school does this most years and the students absolutely LOVE it!
Host a ‘book tasting’ in your classroom
Set up a school Where’s Wally hunt (find out more info here).
Create book inspired treats for your class during book week (like @theadventuresof3m has done in this picture!)