Wednesday, January 18, 2012

The Benefits Of Dress Up Play

the benefits of dress up play for kids

Dress up play is time tested and it's a classic for good reason. Do you remember the days you'd transform yourself into a princess or superhero and get lost in the plots you made up as you pleased? Are you encouraging your children to do the same? Here's a few reasons why you should.

The Benefits Of Dress Up Play


Dress up play stretches your children's creative muscles. When they are playing freely and trying on different personas, they are using their imaginations. The creativity isn't just in picking out what to wear. They are creating different scenarios to play through, often with inventive props. They are looking at things in new ways.

They are telling a story. Often, you will be able to hear their story through the dialogue they come up with. They aren't merely practicing funny voices. They are putting their language skills to good use.

They can work through their feelings and even explore the feelings of others. When they are in their own little world they feel safe enough to explore the different emotions. They can use dress up play to make sense of the world by acting out and working through various problems.

Another wonderful benefit comes to you, as the parent. By watching your child act out their story, you are getting the opportunity to view how your child perceives the world. You are clued in to what has impacted them. The good and the bad.

They are practicing life skills. Changing into costumes is wonderful practice for younger children learning how to dress themselves. Tea parties are social affairs that call for manners and etiquette.

Dressing up is fun! That is evident by the smiles, giggles, and squeels. And also by the roars and stomps. They are playing, and playing is important.

Do your children enjoy dress up play?

19 comments:

  1. Dress-up play is so wonderful and important! It's a great way for kids to give roles of ALL kinds a try! Nice post!

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  2. So true!! What a great reminder of the benefits of dressing up & pretend play!

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  3. That photo is adorable!!!

    Great list of benefits of dress-up play!

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  4. We heart dress up around here!! (did you make any velcro bandaids for him to play with that?My kids LOVE them!)

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  5. Your son makes an adorable little Vet.

    Great list of reasons supporting dress up play!

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  6. Great informative post and wonderful reminder to let kids just dress-up. My girls love dressing up and sometimes I get a little frustrated with it because they are constantly changing from outfit to outfit (A always needs help changing) but the joy in their little faces and hearing the stories they come up with is so funny! I'm one of those parents that lets their kids where dress-up clothes anywhere, C loves telling strangers that she's a princess, lol!

    BTW, as soon as I saw that adorable picture I just wanted to say, "Paging Dr. R!" too cute!

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  7. I remember loving dressing up as a kid, but being too shy to get into it at school. I just put together two huge bins full of dress up clothes and accessories for the kids and it's what they play with every day now. We had all of the items already, but they were kept in different places. Now they know exactly where to go, which makes them play with the materials more often. Yay for organization! Love your photo :-) My daughter is obsessed with playing dress up doctor and putting band-aids on everyone!

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  8. My daughter has just developed an interest in dress-ups. She often disappears into her room and comes back as a fairy or a princess or a doctor etc. Love this post.

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  9. We haven't done much with this. I need to put together I box of things for my son to dress up in.

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  10. This is great! She's not too into it yet, but we do have a dress up box and she loves my old high heels!

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  11. Thank you all for you comments!

    Katie, I actually haven't made them. I forgot all about them! Thanks for the reminder.

    I think it's really sweet that you let them dress up while going places, Aleacia. You're such a fun mom!

    Chrissy- I've actually got an organizational/dress up space post planned. It really does make all the difference!

    And haha, the Iowa Farmer's Wife! I bet you looked great. And now your daugher gets to look great! Awesome!

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  12. Great post! Just shared it on Facebook be couldn't tag you for some reason. I hate Facebook sometimes!

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  13. Btw, can't wait to see your post about organizing dress up. Right now we have a big overflowing basket- NOT GOOD!

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  14. I didn't realize that my kids live in their costumes until a friend mentioned it to me. I think it's great. Love the pic of your son!

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  15. Thank you, Kristina, for sharing! Facebook can be aggravating at times.

    And haha, Tricia. That's awesome! I would stay dressed up too, if I had their dress up play space. It's amazing! Thank you for sharing it on my Facebook page.

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  16. I've definitely seen kids cope better with real life experiences after trying them out in dress up play. My daughter has been for medical appointments dressed as a doctor!

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  17. Thanks for stopping by, Cathy! I bet your daughter showing up at a doctors appointment as a doctor was the highlight of their day. So cute!

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  18. So cool dress up. i did a powerpoint on community helpers (http://schoolapple.com/tags/entries/our-community-helpers)
    but doint it in real makes it so much fun and interesting.

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  19. Thank you so much schoolapple for taking the time to read and comment. I really appreciate it. And thanks for sharing your link! I'll check that out :)

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