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World Book Day costume ideas for teachers

Blog
The YPO Team
05 Dec 2025

World Book Day is finally here! This is a fantastic opportunity for schools to celebrate reading and creativity. It encourages students to engage with literature in an exciting and interactive way, while emphasizing the importance of storytelling and imagination. Dressing up not only makes the day memorable but also helps foster a sense of community and enjoyment around reading books. By getting actively involved, teachers can inspire a love of reading and create a dynamic learning environment for both students and staff.

Not sure what to dress up as? We’ve got the World Book Day costume ideas for teachers, from shiny sea creatures to animated characters. Whether you’re looking for a quick-fix costume or want to go all out on making yours from scratch, here are the best World Book Day costumes to try .

The Very Hungry Caterpillar

Want to win at World Book Day? Dress up as The Very Hungry Caterpillar. Our top tip: wear a black top and leggings underneath your DIY costume so that the caterpillar cut outs stand out. Next, the costume - cut out three large dark green and two light green paper circles, sticking them together like a caterpillar’s body. Then, add some string at the top, which can go over your head. For the head piece you’ll want a red paper cut out head, complete with yellow and green eyes and purple antennas.

What you’ll need:

308368 - Stapler with Staples
131292 - Red Display Roll
736902 - Sellotape - 8 Pack
118070 - Pink & Purple Card - 50 Pack
137669 - Yellow Card - 50 Pack
137863 - Green Card - 50 Pack
718327 - White Cotton String
312541 - Scissors

Willy Wonka

World Book Day isn’t complete without a member of staff dressing up as Willy Wonka. Right? We suggest grabbing a brown hat, purple jacket, gold bow tie, gold trousers and white sunglasses to get in the Charlie and the Chocolate Factory spirit. Here’s another idea - get creative and complete the look with your very own homemade Golden Ticket - you could even make enough to give out to each pupil.

What you’ll need:

110531 - A4 Gold Metallic Paper - 20 Pack

713397 - Black Permanent Marker - 10 Pack

Diary of a Wimpy Kid

If you’re looking for easy-peasy World Book Day costume ideas for teachers, dressing up as Greg from the Diary of a Wimpy Kid book takes less than ten minutes to make. All you need to do is print out the individual character faces on card paper, stick a lolly stick and add elastic to make a mask. This is one of the most practical World Book Day costumes you’ll find, if we say so ourselves.

What you'll need:

537020 - Wooden Lolly Sticks - 100 Pack
137073 - White Card - 50 Pack
728144 - Permanent Black Marker - 12 Pack

The Rainbow Fish

We love dressing up as The Rainbow Fish for World Book Day. Why? Well, you can utilise any shiny, sparkly clothes you already have. Plus, it’s fun to dress up in your shiniest outfit - we’re talking sparkly top, rainbow tutu…you get the drift. If you want to get arty, cut out shiny fabric scales and stick them to a plain top using a glue gun or by sewing on.

What you’ll need:

332089 - Rainbow Fabric 303119 - Dressmaking Scissors

The Tiger Who Came to Tea

Set your eyes on a low-maintenance costume ideas such as ‘The Tiger Who Came to Tea’, which requires tiger face paint (stripes, nose - the lot!), a tiger onesie or a DIY tiger top. Want to do it yourself? Fabric markers will be your best friend. Our Giotto Fabric Markers set contains 48 markers, so you can share them with your whole team.

What you’ll need:

306599 - Fabric Markers

Dear Zoo

The idea: wearing a DIY red shipping container and dressing up as one of the animals from Dear Zoo (elephant, giraffe, lion, camel, snake, monkey, frog or puppy). To create it, paint some large white card paper red and cut out the shipping container openings (if you’re unsure where these are, just reach for the book). Then attach some string for wearability and get into your animal costume. Genius!

What you’ll need:

711415 - Red Paint
718327 - Thick String
115118 - A1 White Card

We can’t wait to see your World Book Day costumes and creations! Share them with us via our social channels, on Instagram or Facebook.

Dressing up little learners for World Book Day? We’ve got all the ideas and resources you’ll need, such as these fun themed costume and role play sets to encourage imaginative play as fairies, knights, pirates or princesses.

To explore our collection of World Book Day products, click here.

Author

The YPO Team

YPO supplies products and services to a wide range of customers including schools, local authorities, charities, emergency services, public sector and other businesses such as nurseries and care homes. YPO are 100% publicly owned, by 13 local authorities, which means the profits made are returned to public sector customers, delivering even better value for money.