For some parents, coming up with a costume for the annual Book Week parade at school is a joy and creative project. For others it's a last minute whip-something-up, or some families find a new costume is an expense they just cannot afford.
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As Ballarat schools prepare for their Book Week parades next week, one primary school has taken a different approach, promoting sustainability and acknowledging financial pressures many families face through a costume swap.
Over recent weeks, Mount Pleasant Primary School families and community members donated unwanted costumes which children could then buy for a gold coin donation during a costume swap on Wednesday.
The swap was so successful that Mount Pleasant Primary School plans to host one for the whole Ballarat community next year.
School principal Kate Robinson said the costume swap was the brainchild of school council member Grace Darke.
"Grace came up with the idea of a costume swap - from a sustainability aspect of not buying throw-away items, throw-away fashion of a costume just for Book Week, and knowing that Book Week can be at times stressful for families who have to come up with a costume that can be expensive, or home-made costumes are great but many families are time-poor," Ms Robinson said.
Many families donated costumes that children had grown out of or no longer wanted to wear.
"Being a parent myself of two children in primary school I have a lot of costumes that have been handed down that my kids have grown out of," she said.
"Now there's somewhere to donate them knowing they are going to a child who would love to have the costume for Book Week or who may not otherwise have been wearing one."
The Book Week parades are a much-loved tradition in many schools, celebrating the Children's Book Council of Australia's annual Children's Book Week, which has been running since 1945.
This year's theme is read, grow, inspire.
After Ms Robinson put the costume swap on the school's social media, local community members also bought in their pre-loved costumes.
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Ms Robinson said the costume swap was a "packed house" after being initially unsure how it would go.
"There was pure excitement and joy," she said.
Following the success of the costume swap, Ms Robinson said the school would host one for all Ballarat families next year.
"We realised it's such a great idea that we are going to offer it Ballarat-wide next year. Throughout the year we will collect costumes from anyone happy to drop them off, we will have them cleaned, will store them and the week before Book Week next year we will set the same thing up."
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