5 reasons why playing dress-up is great for kids

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All kids love to dress up, so many parents will be pleased to hear that it is a great activity for their child’s development and wellbeing. Whether they want to be Disney characters or cowboys, here are all the reasons you should let their imaginations run wild while they rummage through the dress-up box.

5 reasons why playing dress-up is great for kids

It helps them socialise
Letting them role-play with other children is a great way for kids to socialise and also pick up those all important social skills. By creating different scenarios in their game, kids can learn how to appropriately respond to social situations, as well as working out how to effectively play with others. Another important factor to note is that, when a child is wearing a costume he or she can adopt a different personality and be more confident which can help them make friends and come out of their shell if they are the shy type.

It encourages children to use their imagination
It may look like a box of odd clothes, but to children a dressing-up box is home to a whole world of new things to explore. They can be a doctor, a ballerina, ladybird or even a superhero. With all this at their fingertips there really is no limit to their imagination. Using their mind creatively in this way allows children to improve their critical thinking skills, by putting themselves in the position of a firefighter for example, or a teacher, they can figure out how to solve problems, help others and even how to deal with stressful situations! As Albert Einstein once said, “Logic will get you from A to Z; imagination will get you everywhere.”

Photo by Gift Habeshaw on Unsplash

It gets them away from a screen
Rather than participating in the imagination of an app developer or cartoon program, they can be the master of their own universe. Playing dress up also gets them running around and away from iPads, TVs and computer screens. Public Health England have said that a sedentary lifestyle for kids, in front of technology, can take its toll on a child’s wellbeing and can even increase their levels of anxiety.

It helps them discover themselves
By exposing themselves to different professions, personalities and situations, your child can learn more about their likes, dislikes and preferences. By watching your child play these role-playing games, you too can learn a lot more about the types of people your little ones will grow up to be!

So how can you encourage dress up?
By just having the resources at hand, your child will naturally want to explore a box full of different costumes. Limiting screen time is also a great way to force them to try other playing options that us their imagination. Along with clothes, buy them other props that help stimulate the imagination, a princess dressing table, a supermarket till or a stethoscope.

Disclosure – this is a sponsored guest post