Head over to Byrdseed.TV and start your trial!

You're trying out Byrdseed.TV!? Be sure to start with The Greatest Hits.

Byrdseed Logo
Start Here Byrdseed.TV Byrdseed.TV for PD Example Lessons Depth and Complexity Depth and Complexity PD

Halloween: Characters Dressed As Characters

Don’t ask how I ended up at this Disney Pin Trading site featuring Disney characters dressed up like other Disney characters, but it inspired a Halloween-themed character analysis activity.

Characters from film or literature dress up like other characters based on some parallel such as conflict, trait, accomplishment, etc.

Examples

  • Brian from Hatchet would dress up as Batman, because Batman faces his fear of bats just as Brian faces his fears in the Canadian wilderness.
  • Elsa could dress up like the Ice King, not just because of their ice magic, but because they are alone (yet also want to be with people).
  • Dorothy Gale might dress up like Katniss Everdeen, because both rise from nobodies to become unexpected heroes.
  • Wolverine could wear a Han Solo costume since both are good guys who aren’t afraid to break the rules.
  • Dr. House would dress up as Sherlock Holmes, since they both solve difficult puzzles but have problems socializing.
  • The Cat in the Hat might dress up as Captain Jack Sparrow, since both create chaos, but in their core are good-hearted.

Want to see a kindergarten implementation of this? Check out the Not Just Child’s Play site.

What Do I Do With This?

The overall idea is to get kids thinking about parallels between characters, especially that good characters are often built on existing models, but this would be a fun Halloween day activity:

1. Take Submissions

Each student gives you a sentence describing their two characters and the connection:

Syndrome, from The Incredibles, comes dressed as Darth Vader because both sought training from masters, but then turned against those masters

This could be homework or classwork, but you’ll need it at least a day before Halloween so you can create…

2. A Matrix

You’ll build a table with all the characters, but missing the connecting trait, like so:

Character Dressed As Because
Dorothy Harry Potter (left blank for students to fill in)
Wolverine Han Solo
Luke Skywalker Frodo

3. Students Work to Figure It Out

Great for Halloween day. Start as solo work, then let kids collaborate. Eventually, share out with the whole class. Maybe offer a prize for the most correct connections.

Note: Don’t name the student who created each connection on your table, or kids will just run to their classmates and ask for the reasoning instead of puzzling it out.

Bonus: Drawings and Costumes

Not sure how to include it, but I love the idea of kids trying to draw Wolverine dressed as Han Solo and then writing out the connection. What an awesome display on a wall:

Wolverine solo

Extreme bonus: have kids come dressed as characters dressed as characters (wow, did I just write that?) and give a brief presentation on their connections.

See the video version on Byrdseed.TV →
With a Byrdseed.TV PD account, you can use these videos in your professional development!

This is an example of “Divergent Thinking”

Ask students questions which encourage them to go off in different directions, find unexpected answers, and think in new ways. But, these questions aren't mere fluff. They should have wrong answers as well.

See other examples of “Divergent Thinking” ❯❯

Want to share something?
Everything written on Byrdseed.com is licensed as CC-BY-SA unless otherwise noted. What does that mean?

Privacy Policy • Disclosure

Copyright © 2009 - 2025 Byrdseed, LLC