World Book Day 2025: Quick and easy costume ideas including Harry Potter, Mary Poppins, and the BFG

It’s that time of year again when panic set in among parents wo will be up until all hours crafting literary-based creations for their children - that’s right, World Book Day is almost upon us. To the rescue, a leading arts and crafts retailer has come up with a range of quick ideas to pull panic mums and dads out of a hole.

From the wizarding wonders of Harry Potter to Paddington Bear’s humorous mishaps, the UK is filled with iconic characters who’s adventures have been shared through the beauty of books. With the help of Hobbycraft, children can show their appreciation for their favourite characters on the day dedicated to celebrating books.

Celebrated on the first Thursday in March, World Book Day is an annual charity event which encourages children and families to develop a love of reading for pleasure, which can not only help improve vocabulary, concentration and reading skills, but also support the mental wellbeing of the younger generation.

Educators across the UK will be supporting the charity event via book tokens, story times, class parties and quizzes. One of the most popular activities on World Book Day is costume creation, in which children can dress up as an iconic character from one of their favourite books and wear it to school.

And Hobbycraft is helpfully on hand to help let children’s imagination run wild this World Book Day with a wide variety of costume ideas and inspiration available on their Ideas Hub page.

From colourful face paint creations to iconic character outfits such as Willy Wonka and Peter Rabbit, their free step-by-step guides will keep the kids entertained for hours on end and leave them with a crafty costume that will be sure to impress the whole school.

Among the 35+ Book Day Costume and Craft Ideas your little readers can choose from a range of the most famous characters from inside the pages including three quick Harry Potter costume ideas, Paddington Bear, Mary Poppins, and the BFG.

There are also 14 quick and easy face painting ideas, foam masks and animal headdresses, to make this year’s World Book Day that little bit less stressful.