Today I am going to be...
Most toddlers love to dress up! Dressing up is an amazing type of play, bringing with it a whole world of benefits to your toddler's development. It doesn’t have to be expensive, just a few home props can ignite their imagination while also building their gross motor skills.
Imagination strikes us all in different ways. Children are usually super at slipping into another realm and embarking on a journey that they are in control of.
When involved in dress-up play, your toddler can easily transform into a dinosaur, astronaut, TV character, or whatever they want, and don’t even need to have full themed costumes to make it happen. Simply wearing a different T-shirt or putting a towel over their shoulders will do the job nicely.
It’s also great for your toddler to play with dressing-up clothes as it helps them learn the basics of getting dressed, while having fun!
Dressing up boosts virtually every area of learning, and it will continue to do so as your toddler grows.
Putting on and taking off dress-up clothes helps your toddler build independence. This is quite important as we all know most toddlers think they are capable of doing EVERYTHING on their own!
While building their independence, your toddler also uses fine and gross motor skills. Every time they attempt to change an outfit, they figure out how to put an arm or leg in or out, giving their bodies time to wiggle and wriggle.
In time, more complex motor skills like zipping and snapping press studs will be added to the list of things they can do.
Did you know that getting dressed and undressed helps your toddler gain strength and stability?
Each time your toddler reaches up or forward with two hands, their body weight shifts.[1] The same is true when they lift a leg while standing. As gaining these skills is very new, your toddler is likely to wobble, or they will hold on to you for support for some time yet.
In time, they will start to understand how to correct their balance and maintain stability; lots of practice will help them along this journey.
Amazingly, research tells us that clothing can affect our posture too!
When we feel confident and proud, our posture typically represents how we think and feel. Clothing can play an important role in how we feel, and when we feel good in what we wear we typically hold our posture better.[2]
This ultimately applies to your toddler when they dress up. Those feelings of extreme happiness and pride shine through, simply because their clothes help them believe they are different.
What we love most about dressing up is that it doesn’t need to be extravagant.
Your toddler doesn’t need a brand-new, shop-bought costume to transform into another realm. The simple addition of gloves, a piece of jewellery, your shoes, a handbag or even a stick can be enough to make the magic come alive.
References:
[1] The OT Toolbox. (2016) Independence with Dressing Skills.
[2] Gurney, D., Howlett, Neil., Pine, K., Tracey, M., Moggridge, R. (2016). Dressing up posture: The interactive effects of posture and clothing on competency judgements. British Journal of Psychology.