Thursday, November 1, 2012

Dress Up Play for Toddlers and Pre Schoolers

With Halloween just gone and your children having had dress up fun remember it is not time to shelve the fun for another year - dress up for young ones is fun all year round rain or shine.

Dressing up is an important component of role play for children and helps them to learn important skills like:-

  • Using Imagination
  • Thinking Abstractly  
  • Problem Solving
It doesn't have to be expensive, children will find the most simplest things fun and see the potential to dress up in almost anything.

Take the example of my young niece who took a washcloth tucked it into her skirt, then grabbed another one and walked around the house cleaning - was she a cleaner as we thought? No she was in fact Cinderella before the ball!! Abstract, imagination and problem solving all at work there.

As a child we had a dress up box we played with and ours had my Mum's wedding dress in it - do you think my sister & I fought over that....

So you may not want to put your wedding dress in a box but what type of affordable ways and what can you use to build a dress up box with?

Here are a few suggestions:-

  • Visit thrift shops or yard sales to pick up vintage clothes, shoes, hats and accessories children love it being big on them.
  • Go to the dollar stores for goodies like beads, pirate patches, watches, glasses, plastic fire, police hats etc...
  • Get an old tie of Daddy's and make a permanent knot at a safe age appropriate level to be slipped on.
  • Have old handbags, purses, wallets, phones and alike laying around the place will make great additions.
  • I also read that many stores put out Halloween costumes very cheap in the days after the event so you may soon pick up some bargains that way.

Your only limit is your imagination in building the box and the more creative you get the more creative your children can be in creating their outfits and roles.

What role does dress up have in your house as a regular play activity? We are always keen to hear your thoughts.

Happy Play Times :-)

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