Four Fun Ideas for World Book Day

March 4, 2021

• Topical

This Thursday is World Book Day and, if you are anything like us, books will have come to your rescue countless times over the past year. Whether you’ve been hungry for adventure or in need of some comfort, desperate to meet new people or longing for something more familiar, we hope that you have found the right reading materials for the job.

There’s nothing quite like a global pandemic to make you really appreciate what people mean when they talk about reading as a means of escape, but there’s also so much joy to be had in sharing and connecting over what you’ve read with your family and friends. Reading is not only one of life’s great pleasures, but it is also key to academic success at every level, and children’s progress through different reading levels should be recognised and encouraged at every opportunity. Listening to kids talk about what they are reading can give some really incredible insights into the way that they think about the world around them, so we have thought of a few fun World Book Day activities to help with inspiring those conversations this Thursday!

Make an artistic masterpiece inspired by the best thing you have read this year!

You can get really creative (and messy) with this one! You could get the watercolours out and create an abstract masterpiece; use colouring pencils to draw the setting that captivated you most; make a papier-mâché version of the main character… The possibilities are endless.

Dress up as your favourite fictional character!

Now, if your character of choice has a big fluffy moustache, or, I don’t know, a lightning-bolt scar on their forehead, you might need to get some face-paints or make-up out for this one. You could even take it a step beyond dressing up and demand that everyone has to act like their favourite character for the afternoon (but be careful what you wish for – the best main characters aren’t always very well-behaved…).

Cook the books!

Maybe you’ve always wondered about those pop cakes they’re constantly scoffing in The Faraway Tree and feel ready to try your hand at baking some of your own, or maybe you’re more in the mood to assemble a full Shakespearean feast. A recipe to pop cakes can be found here. On the less labour-intensive side, there is always something inexplicably wonderful about an indoor picnic so don’t be afraid to roll out a blanket in the living room and let the teddy bears be your guide!

Write your own spin-off story!

Encourage your children to really use their imaginations here! They might want to use a setting from their favourite story, but write about a whole different set of characters hanging out there in the distant past or future, or they might be interested in following one of the minor characters from the story and giving them a chance to take centre stage. Good art is almost all about stealing, after all.

Wishing you all a very happy World Book Day!