Both my kids and I are big fans of Roald Dahl and his characters are always a really popular choice for dress up whether it’s for World Book Day or for Roald Dahl Day itself. Like a lot of parents I’m not always keen to buy yet another costume for school so these DIY Roald Dahl costumes are a great idea. The safety vest was a one-size fits a very big adult, so I had to modify it a little first. I had Quinn try on the vest and then I folded and taped it in place to make it fit better. Roald Dahl characters make fun World Book Day costumes. Find out how to make this easy BFG costume – kids will love making the Big Friendly Giant's massive ears! If you want to portray the BFG as he roams London, you could also wear a hooded robe and carry a long trumpet. Sometimes you can find a premade BFG costume online, but not always. For the BFG’s shirt, I wanted to find a rough peasant style/linen shirt. I love this baby muslin shirt but it wouldn’t work for us since I was making the costume for Quinn.

Plus you can also grab our free printable reading scavenger hunt where kids can colour in each thing as they find it in a book.The Gingerbread House shares how to make some BFG ears. Bonus points are you can get your kids to make these so you don’t have to! Start with a stripey jumper. It can be the start of many an easy costume including Dennis the Menace, Minnie the Minx, Where's Wally, or Horrid Henry.

This costume is one that we made when my son was in Reception. Find a red top and blue jeans to wear, put a bit of brown paint inside a plastic bottle and a tiny bit of water, put the lid on tight and then swish it around until the inside of the bottle is covered. Write Marvelous Medicine on the outside of the bottle and you are done. BFG Costume If you're after more book-smart ideas on how to make easy World Book Day costumes, we've got you covered! Here are just some of our vital tips for making easy and affordable costumes for World Book Day:

Top tips for making World Book Day costumes

Think about sleepwear - Pyjamas and nighties can work for all sorts of costumes, like The Darlings from Peter Pan or Sophie from The BFG. Look through EVERYONE'S wardrobes. Dad's tie may make a great Penny Crayon costume and an apron could be fashioned into an Alice in Wonderland dress. I added an oversized tan button to the front of the vest with a hot glue gun and then put a strip of brown duct tape on it to mimicthe button on the BFG’s vest. Big Friendly Giant Costume Pants The BFG ears were rather easy to make using this awesome tutorial I found. All you need is flesh colored felt, a headband, and a hot glue gun. You could also just buy a set of large costume ears. Additional BFG Costume Ideas Adapt a PE or sports kit, or their school uniform - think Football Academy for sports kit, Harry Potter and St Trinian's for the uniform.

The BFG costume is my favorite kind of costume because that can be pulled together inexpensively depending upon what you have on hand or can borrow. Big Friendly Giant Costume Essentials To make the vest I decided to cover a safety vest from the dollar store in brown duct tape. Last year when I made the Inside Out Fear costume, I attempted a vest template which worked ok but I figured just covering an existing vest would be easier. I covered a cheap safety vest in duct tape to make this DIY a no brainer Quinn already owned a pair of green cargo/khaki style pants that worked well. I did roll the legs up a bit but that was all I had to modify. Big Friendly Giant Dream Catching Net

James and the Giant Peach costumes

Red Ted Art has a great Fantastic Mr Fox mask made out of a cereal box but there’s a template for it that you can grab too. Phew. This is a story about a little girl called Sophie who gets kidnapped by The BFG, whose job it is to blow dreams into kids' rooms. He tells her about his terrifying neighbours – more giants – who EAT children! The story becomes a quest for Sophie and the Big Friendly Giant to defeat the others, with a little help from Her Majesty the Queen of England (God rest her soul).

The shirt already had a Mandarin style collar. I removed the buttons and added velcro using a glue gun like I did for the Prince Charming costume shirt. Get creative with cardboard. There's almost nothing you can't make with some cardboard, scissors, and a good idea. You won't have to go to Infinity or beyond to make your kid a great Buzz Lightyear costume this World Book Day, you just need this easy-to-follow guide! Top tips for making World Book Day costumes

Make a simple mask. Paper plates are great for making simple masks. You can turn your child into pretty much any World Book Day character they fancy with a little crafting. Sound good? Well, keep reading to find out out to get the BFG look and make those awesome big ears... We’ve got loads of activities for kids books with themes such as Superworm, The Snail and the Whale, Supertato and Dear Zoo. Disney characters can have some simple and easy-to-copy outfits, and most of them are based on books. Get the face paints out. Book characters can easily come to life with cute painted faces. Think The Tiger Who Came to Tea or the Cheshire Cat.