The Art of Dressing-Up and Engaging in Dramatic Play

With Halloween approaching us, quite a few parents may find themselves thinking about what costume their child or children may want or need this year. Will your child dress up as a superhero? A dragon? A character from Paw Patrol? Or a potato?  Whatever random/out there costume your child chooses, know that your child’s brain will delight in its ability to practice a new role through the act of dressing up and engaging in dramatic play. So, let us take a quick look at what some of the benefits of encouraging your child to dress-up are. Note to self: costumes don’t have to be worn only once a year at Halloween, they should be encouraged in every day play!

1.      Creativity

While there are some great pre-made costumes out there, a lot of times children love creating their own costumes or adapting pre-made ones to suit their needs. Often times, this can even happen after Halloween, ensuring new ways that your children can adapt and change these outfits for endless time and activities. This is where a child’s imagination and creativity flourishes; how can I use this ribbon and a stick to create a wand or turn this old hat into a crown? Now that wand is a stir stick for the witches cauldron and the old hat that was a crown is now a beautiful necklace for the Queen. I am always blown away how children will repurpose items to fit their needs over and over again.

2.      Empathy and Identity Shaping

When a child is dressed-up as someone or something else, it allows them to take-on another’s identity. They are often re-enacting things they’ve seen, heard, or experienced in real life or through books and TV. This may mean a child slowly begins to feel and act as their given costume character; putting themselves not only physically in someone else’s shoes but emotionally too! How might a superhero feel after saving someone? How might a teacher act when teaching? How would a princess behave in front of her royal subject stuffed animals? Down the road, a child may also wonder if there are certain aspects of their given character that they want to continue with after they are out of costume. Like the talked about superhero, they may notice the good feeling inside when they do a good deed and repeat that behavior for that continued sense of pride.

3.      Communication and Language Skills

As a child embodies their costume character, they verbally and nonverbally express themselves more to make their costume come alive. This means they may use certain words, phrases and motions that may not normally be used in their day-to-day conversations. Occasionally, this can even mean that a child gets to practice a new accent or pronounce new words or phrases that they may have read in a book or seen on TV.

4.      Motor Skills

Getting into a costume helps strengthen a child’s fine and large motor skills. Whether it is zipping up the princess dress, buttoning up that trench coat or jumping like a frog, their body is learning and strengthening a variety of movements that will not only help them now, but in the future too. This doesn’t include the traditional weather required costume adjustment with a layer of snow pants, jacket, toque and mittens underneath either; that in itself requires enough motor skills to walk around the block like the Michelin Man.

5.      Memory and Attention

When a child picks out or creates their costume, their attention is most likely heavily focused on that costume – What does it looks like? What does it feel like? What accessories does it need? How do I get into it? Additionally, aspects of a child’s memory are also pulled into play as they remember how their costume character acts, sounds, feels, and their roles they play when in costume. It’s amazing that a child can remember a TV character so clearly, but can’t remember what they did with their homework!

Whether it is October 31st or an idle Wednesday, know that engaging in dramatic play has many benefits for your child. It allows them to focus on who they are, who they want to be or better yet, what they want to be. By understanding what something is, the child can “put the shoe on the other foot” quite literally and become something new. The construction worker, the princess, the unicorn or the shop keeper, it doesn’t matter what they dress-up as, as each character will come with its own unique perspective, behavior and understanding as to what this world truly is. Remember, as the great Mr. Dressup taught us, there is nothing too silly to wear.

Written by: Rebecca Smith, MACP, Registered Psychologist, Counsellor, Family Ties Association

References:

Forge, T. (2018, May 3). Benefits of dramatic play for young children. Cherry Bridge Station,  https://cherrybridgestation.com/early-learning-childcare-benefits-of-dramatic-play-for-young-children/

Waite-Stupiansky. S (n.d). Is Dressing Up for Halloween Different Than for Pretend Play?. https://www.naeyc.org/our-work/families/halloween-vs-pretend-play

Photo Credit: https://www.pexels.com/photo/girl-putting-her-crown-5789949/