Playing dress-up is a wonderful way to encourage creativity, language development and social skills. It's a game that children have been playing for centuries, with each new generation using costumes to make new stories. Putting together a collection of dressing-up costumes doesn't require sewing skills, store-bought costumes or elaborately planned outfits. What it does require is the imagination of a child and the freedom to play. Gather together a treasure trove of costume pieces and let your child put them together anyway he chooses. There is no right or wrong way, only what her imagination can conceive.
Instructions
1
Keeping dress-up clothes in a treasure box can inspire your child to leap off into flights of fancy.
Set aside a storage place for the dressing-up costumes. It might be a small dresser, a trunk, a decorated box or a wardrobe. If possible, find a storage place with compartments so you can have separate spots for accessories, shoes, jewelry and clothing.
2
Don't underestimate the power of colors and textures to spark the imagination.
Visit the local fabric store and go through their remnants basket or box. Find pieces of fabric that have whimsical prints, are lacy, have fur, have leather or are in some way unique and will spark the imagination.
3
Turn a trip to the thrift store into a treasure hunt where you search for forgotten relics.
Visit thrift stores and look for old shoes, hats, costume jewelry and scarves. You may also be able to find some vintage-style dresses, pants or coats that could become part of your trove of dressing-up costumes.
4
Got an obnoxious tie you've sworn you'll never wear again? Pass it off to your kid, who will find uses for it you never dreamed of.
Raid your closet for clothes that don't fit anymore. Pull out shirts, dresses, vests, ties and anything that could be part of a dressing-up story.
5
Your child can paint designs on ceramic masks or just glue pieces of construction paper to paper plates to create masks.
Provide construction paper, string, hole punches, markers, feathers, empty toilet-paper tubes and glue so your child can make masks or other props.
