Sir Isaac Newton - this is getting ridiculous

Our charity shop sells loads of ‘ people costumes’ and all the Disney stuff at £3 each
It’s well worth looking in charity shops for cheap options

I’d just dress him in black joggers and T-shirt, cut out a large magnet shaped piece of cardboard to drape round his neck, and paint that red with black ends.

I agree that it is ridiculous.

Many children are going without breakfast and their parents can't afford heating. Uniforms are expensive too, so asking families to provide a costume for one day is insensitive at best, and insulting at worst. I don't see how dressing up for World Book Day helps with education either. Get them to prepare a talk about their favourite book, or draw their favourite character. Take them to a library. Get an author in to talk to them about how to write a story. All of those things (and there will doubtless be better ideas from teachers ) would do far more to encourage reading than going to ASDA to buy an over-priced off the peg costume instead of food, or expecting mums to add to their workloads and find space in their budgets to produce something home made. Why not let the children make their own costumes as an Art project if it's really supposed to be useful?

PS
Stick an apple to a baseball cap and be done with it? The costume could double up if they introduce a William Tell Day.

Forget the frock coat, cut and hem/elasticate old joggers below the knee to make breeches, white school shirt, waistcoat on top (from charity shop), piece of lace (charity shop again) to make frilled cuffs and ruffle for front of shirt. Tuck an oldish book under his arm and it's Sir Isaac at work.. you may have to buy the wig but they're not too pricey on Amazon

As in Randolph Hearst (the newspaper magnet),
or fridge (magnet)?🤣

Could a packet of nails ect. be stuck on to an old jumper?

They are great ideas, katek, but many people pass on old joggers until they are beyond wear, and not everyone has time to trawl charity shops for lace. And with all due respect, 'not too pricey on Amazon' means different things to different people.

Of course, he could do something a litle different and go as William Gilbert. Gilbert predates Newton and is considered the father of magnetic study. A red T shirt, an old brown throw, make a paper ruff by pleating some copy paper and a cardboard top hat painted black.

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Or try to find something close to this in charity shop and fix wool ringlets inside

I agree with the you though Minerva such a lot of fuss, time and money for the parents to go to.
I'm not sure how much the children learn either?
I suspect the parents learn more about the characters their children dress as, than their offspring do.

Some see this as madness when children are going hungry and I agree, some will see this as trying to engage chikdren, I agree with this too.

What schools really need to remember is many people are working and give plenty of notice at the beginning of time and then send out a reminder a week before.

I don’t think schools expect parents to pay for actual outfits so always improvise and in most schools teachers dress up too.

Some great suggestions here, good luck!

Term not “beginning of time” haha

I used to tell the school I was not good at costumes[true].
There was a ta there who was, and said anytime I got stuck, she would sort my kids out in something. She said she loved that kind of thing.

Result!

I always thanked her profusely afterwards!

Our dressing up days were nightwear ( bedtime story theme for World Book Day ) or come- as - what - you'll- be - as - a -grownup for all other occasions, requiring ordinary clothes and a " prop" of some sort.
On this occasion the staff were children for the day, although I did once come in a lab coat with a toy stethoscope, saying I wanted to be a doctor when I grew up . Reception children were rather puzzled by this.

Why don’t parents revolt against all these days? If enough of them phoned/ emailed/ wrote to the schools they’d soon stop this nonsense.It’s unfair to both parents and children.

Some parents love it. I wasn't one of them, but I remember the competitive types spending £££ on costumes (and this was years ago), and showing off about it at the gates. The children didn't learn much (if anything) from their parents' efforts. It was the same with homework.

My favourite was a reception class Easter Egg competition where the children were asked to paint a hoard boiled egg. There were lots of Humpty Dumpties with wonky faces and crooked grins, but several worthy of Faberge himself. Guess into which category my two fell?

This is awful. I’m so glad it wasn’t a thing when my son was at primary school and I had neither time nor money to do this stuff. The only time some sort of costume was required was for a school play and it was easy to sort. Times are hard now - why don’t schools understand that?

I agree with Oreo, all these costume days are so hard for parents. My dd has two children, works FT and is studying for a Masters while her Dh farms and works long days, usually with an early start.

Where are they supposed to get the time to traipse round charity shops and make garments?

I do love Doodledog’s Apple and baseball cap idea, though.

I does seem to be getting a bit ridiculous doesn't it? As if there isn't enough pressure on parents to feed and clothe their kids already!

I'd dress him is his oldest clothes, add some garden grime and sending him as Isaac Newtons gardener.

I find it a tall order, I remember having to dress my boys, now in their 30s as Tudor and Victorian kids, slightly easier for the latter, impossible for the former and does all this dressing up imbue them in the subject matter Don't get me started on World Book Day, it's a distraction, reading has fallen off the edge of a cliff for a lot of children these days, gadgetry resonates far more sadly some might just as well come in disguised as an Xbox that is the sad reality in some homes. Particularly when I read about one child, when asked to bring a book from home, he brought in the Argos catalogue I am so grateful to have grown up with few toys like most of my generation, but surrounded with books, after family and animals, they remain an enduring love in my life.

Can he just wear a red long sleeved shirt and grey trousers? You could always pin/sew a N and S on his trouser legs?

OR, find a strip of something red to wear as a scarf over his shoulders and have the two ends a silvery grey colour?
You could cut this whole thing out of card tbh, paint it and wear it.

I think a magnet is quite straightforward.

If you are a bit more "crafty" you could make a boxy 3d thing to sit over his shoulders?

He could just carry an apple.....

Can’t understand it. When I was teaching children up to age of 7 the school provided costumes for school activities. The staff room used to be turned into a hive of industry and mums who were willing came in to help. Don’t schools live in the real world where both parents both work to provide for the family!To ask so much and so often is ridiculous. It’s difficult enough for some parents to pay for school trips without further demands.

I am absolutely rubbish at this kind of thing, so I absolutely always threw money at it. In order not to spend time and stress on it, it was money well spent.