Costumes and pretend play are a great kids activity to make books come to life. They can pretend to be the characters in the story: acting out the events in the book or creating their own story with the characters. These interactions with the text build vocabulary and literacy connections.
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This month, the virtual book club is reading books by Julia Donaldson. Our house adores the Gruffalo and we have made a Gruffalo Apron for storytelling. The mouse headband was a perfect pairing so that the children can take turns being the main characters in the story.
We love using felt because it is an easy material to work with and budget friendly. This project took less than one hour and total supply cost was around $2.00.
My 8 year old sews the headbands together for her and her younger brothers, making it a great learn-to-sew project for after school as well!
DIY Gruffalo Inspired Mouse Costume Headband
Materials Needed:
- Brown, white, pink, and black felt
- Scissors
- Ruler (optional)
- Needle and thread
Directions to make the mouse costume headband:
1. Cut your mouse costume headband pieces out. I use a 3 inch band with that is 24 inches long and freehand the other pieces. You will need 2 ears, two white circles for the eyes, two small black circles for the pupils, a squashed pink triangle for the nose and 2 skinny black rectangles for the whiskers.
I cut strips through the rectangles, but left them together at the end.
2. Assemble the pieces in the places you want. Pin in place.
3. Using a straight stitch, attach the mouse features to the main headband piece. We added a little cotton batting under the nose to make it puff up a little bit.
Sew 2 /3 of the triangle nose, then gently stuff the cotton under and sew the remaining side.
4. Set the completed mouse costume headband around your child’s head to measure. Sew the ends together so that it will fit around the top of their head.
5. Wear and act out parts of the stories!
For More DIY Costume Ideas for Play:
More Julia Donaldson Inspired Activities from the Virtual Book Club for Kids Bloggers
Room on the Broom Activities
Room on the Broom Activities by Inspiration Laboratories
Room on the Broom for a Rhyme by Ready Set Read
Room on a Broom Ordinal Numbers by Rainy Day Mum
Room on the Broom Sensory Bin by Still Playing School
Witch Hat Cupcakes for Kids by Coffee Cups and Crayons
Witch Hat Halloween Treat by The Pleasantest Thing
Witch Shape Craft by Toddler Approved
Stick Man Activities
Books for Kids: Stick Man by Growing Book by Book
Counting Ingredients into the Caldron by 3 Dinosaurs
Fancy Stick Crown by Mama Miss
Going on a Stick Hunt by Playing with Words 365
Recycled Stick Man Craft by LalyMom
The Gruffalo Activities
DIY Gruffalo Inspired Mouse Costume by The Educators’ Spin On It
Gruffalo Rhyming Tic Tac Toe Game by Royal Baloo
Gruffalo Themed Shape Animals by The Educators’ Spin On It
Roll a Gruffalo Game by Playdough to Plato
Color Pages by Crystal and Co
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How incredibly adorable! How did I miss your other headband creations? TOO CUTE!
Thanks for your sweet words. My kids LOVE to sew and these are great for learning and then connecting with literature! Stay tuned for even more!!!
I'm loving all of these costume ideas!
This was so helpful for World Book Day. I used fabric glue as my sewing skills are rubbish and it worked out well.
Thank you!
That’s wonderful Erika you participated in World Book Day! We’re so glad to hear you found this helpful.