Children seek dress-up out naturally.

Here are the benefits of playing with costumes.

  1. Dress up play fosters the imagination

Children have vast, open imaginations. When children play dress up, they root their imaginative stories in reality for a short while, giving them a chance to explore it more thoroughly.

For example, if your child dons a fireman’s hat, he practices helping people, community service and bravery.

  1. Dress up play lets them explore themselves

By pretending to be other people, children experiment with new ideas and behaviors. They can decide what they like and what they don’t.

  1. Dress up play strengthens relationships

Playing with costumes is a strong lesson in empathy. By “living” the life of someone else, your child has to put themselves in that person’s shoes. How do they feel? What are their motivations? How would they behave in certain situations?

  1. Dress up play improves communication

Dress up forces children to experiment with new language. They have to anticipate what, for example, a ballerina would say, or how a space explorer would speak. This gives them chance to practice with words and phrases they wouldn’t normally use.

Halloween is a good time to let children play dress-up games.

 

Keep a variety of dress-up items on hand. Garage sales and thrift stores are great, often inexpensive sources. Unlike an expensive ready made costume that a child uses to be a single specific character it is preferable to have “open ended”  non gender specific dress up ideas that can be used by a child in a multitude of different ways.

Stock a dress-up box or trunk with these essentials to encourage creative storytelling play.

  1. Scarves or play silks are the most versatile, and therefore most essential item for storytelling play. They can be worn as a head covering, a scarf, a skirt, a dress. They can become water or grass in the setting or used as a bag to carry items. The options are limitless — just like kids’ imaginations!
  2. Toss hats, purses and bags, glasses, jewelry or other accessories into the dress-up box for kids to incorporate into their characters’ ensembles.
  3. The right prop can inspire a story and make excellent gifts for kids to include in their creative play. Ex. Swords and shields; Wings and cape
  4. Recyclables: Even better than specific props, “trash” can be a real treasure in imaginative play. Like with scarves, kids can use their imaginations to turn boxes and bags into costumes or props. Ex. Boxes and paper bags; Paper-towel and toilet-paper rolls; Old socks or scraps of fabric

Happy dress-up! Happy Halloween!