5 ideas for dress ups
THAT YOU DON’T HAVE TO BUY
Playing dress ups is a huge part of play development. It makes pretend scenarios seem more real by stepping into a costume that matches the imaginary scene. There are a number of learning opportunities that children may benefit from when playing dress ups but I’m only going to mention one briefly this time.
When children play dress ups, they learn to dress themselves. Even if they are only attempting to put something on, they are learning about where clothing goes and problem solving to get items on and off. It may seem obvious that children need to learn to dress themselves but in the busy rush of the morning we may not give them that opportunity often enough. I have heard a lot of talk recently about children starting school and not being able to dress themselves without the help of the teacher. Now I know how resistant my three year old son can be to doing things by himself so I completely understand teaching children to dress themselves is not always that straight forward! But what I do know is that if dressing involves transforming into a pirate or an astronaut or even a chef, he will at least attempt to get into costume with my encouragement and sometimes independently.
Now onto the dressing up part! Bought dress ups are wonderful and it is great to have a few favourites but you don’t have to have to buy dress ups for your children to be able to participate in dress up play. I tried these ideas and the kids were no less satisfied with their costume than they were with a bought costume.
1. Use clothing from all your wardrobes
If you break down the main features of the character you are dressing up as, chances are you have similar items in your own wardrobe or your child’s wardrobe. It may be a white blouse or a scarf, suspenders or a waistcoat. Piece these items together and you’ll have a costume forming before you know it.
The picture of my little pirate shows he is wearing his sister’s jacket, my black belt and his own jeans and boots. We used a scarf from the playroom and we made the eye patch and sword.
2. Make a costume from paper or cardboard
Children may love the challenge of designing their own costume from paper. They can participate in cutting out, painting and sticking pieces together to make the items they need. This idea is more suited to making accessories in a costume. However the sky is the limit so give it a go.
In the photo, my daughter is finishing a superhero mask. She also painted a paper cape and helped to construct a magic power tool and a belt. The final product was so cute. She was ready to save everyone!
3. Use fabric to wrap around and fasten or sew
If you have older children, they may enjoy the challenge of sewing a costume. Use any fabric you have at home or old sheets especially if this is a first attempt. For younger children, large scarves or fabric can be wrapped and fastened with a belt or ribbons instead of sewing.
We had a long sparkly skirt from an old dance costume of mine that we wrapped to make a mermaid dress. We made a mermaid shaped tail and attached it. We also made a shell necklace so my daughter could pretend she was Ariel.
4. Use dress ups and your imagination
Before my daughter had her first princess dress, she would hang up her different coloured dresses from her wardrobe and allocate them to a princess. A blue dress would be her Cinderella dress, yellow was Belle and so on. It amazed me that she could improvise in this way and use her imagination. Now whenever we don’t have an exact match for a costume, we hang up a few possibilities from what we have and find what the kids are happy to wear.
Since my daughter had outgrown her ballerina tutu, we hung up some possible choices on a drying rack. She then decided what would most suit the idea in her head. She decided on her ballet shoes, her green tutu and a blue scarf tied as a cape.
5. Accessorise
A costume can be finished off by finding some accessories that help the role playing experience. These accessories can be things from a dress up box or found around the house. Scarves are always useful items for making capes, belts and hoods! Hats, gloves and shoes can also easily be used for different dress up play scenarios.
I hope this has encouraged you to use more dress ups in your child’s play adventures and source the costumes from items you have around the house. Don’t forget to join in the dressing up experience yourself occasionally. Imagine the look on your child’s face seeing you dressed up and ready to play!
Happy dressing up!
Heather
