Once a child reaches a certain
age (usually between about 2 and 4), they will tend to go through a phase of
dressing up in different costumes and experimenting with their clothing. This
is a completely natural and fun part of being a child and helps with their
development as well as being a really fun addition to role playing games and
experiences. Sometimes you will find that a child falls in love with a certain
costume and wants to wear it everywhere they go, and this should be encouraged
as it is teaching them plenty about the world around them.
For little girls, dressing up as
princesses, fairies and even their mums gives them a chance to explore what it
is to be female. For children under the age of 4, it is generally understood
that gender is changeable and although they recognise the difference between
men and women they do not necessarily realise that this state is fixed. Once a
little girl realises that she is a girl, her costume choices will reflect her
pride in being female and wearing typically ‘girly’ costumes helps her to
experiment with what it means to be a woman. Similarly, little boys may
experiment with girly costumes for the same reason, to help them understand
what it means for them to be a man. Boys tend to prefer dressing up as
superheroes, or in costumes which reflect certain professions, and this is a
great way for them to work out what they want to be as they grow up, and the
kind of man they are going to turn into.
You should always encourage your
children’s dress up games and toys, and having a dress up box that they can dip into
whenever they are playing a new game, or want to put on a play can be an
integral and exciting addition to their bedroom. You should be looking for plenty of variety, so
your kids can be film characters one day, in certain professions another and
just dressing up as mum and dad another time. The most popular costumes around
at the moment include Harry Potter outfits, pirate costumes, superheroes and,
as always, princess outfits. You can find these widely available online and
should look for something that your child has room to grow into, as you never
know how long they may want to dress up for!
If you are running short on cash,
choose one really good costume with plenty of accessories, and then fill the
rest of the box with old clothes of yours, or from friends. If you are handy
with a needle and thread, you can add onto old clothes to make them themed, or
let your kids get involved with fabric paint and stick on gems. The point is to
give them as much choice and say in the costumes as possible, and you should
soon find that they have an active dressing up life!
