More Dress up Stuff

by Sherry Holetzky | More from this Blogger

05 May 2006 01:10 PM

Playing dress up is so much fun, and it is a good opportunity for children to use their imagination. Encourage your children to play dress up and help them create a special wardrobe.

Dress up is not just for girls either. Although I'm not suggesting giving little boys high heels and dresses, there are plenty of ways for boys to do their own dress up thing, even if they want to call it something else.

Check Thrift Stores

You can find some of the coolest stuff in thrift stores. Prom dresses, old tuxedos or suits, briefcases, sports jerseys, aprons, uniforms, and all sorts of other neat stuff. Just clean these items up and you'll have an instant (and cheap!) wardrobe.

Keep Halloween Costumes

Your kids' old Halloween costumes can also go into the dress up box. They make perfect disguises, which can be mixed and matched to create entirely new costumes so your kids can become different characters or assume secret identities. Also, look for other Halloween costumes at after holiday sales.

Create Your Own

Pillowcases make good, easy outfits. Just cut holes for head and arms and you have an instant hospital gown for your pretend patient. Using the same method then cutting off the bottom to make the smock shorter, you can create scrubs for your pretend surgeon, dentist, vet, or nurse. Use the excess to make aprons or a dental "bib" for the person being attended to by your little dentist.

Pillowcases make good superhero capes too. Cut open one of the long seams and the bottom seam and attach snap fittings to the top corners.

Bath towels are also handy for dress up costumes. Brown towels make fun caveman (or woman) outfits. Just lay two towels together, cut off the top corner (cutting through both), and sew the two pieces together at the top corner. You can sew the sides together (leaving an armhole on the long side) or attach strips of rawhide or string on both sides near the waist to tie the costume in place.

Learn more about Sherry Holetzky

Sherry Holetzky is a work at home mom and freelance writer. Married to her best friend, Sherry and her husband are raising their family in a quiet rural setting in the beautiful Ozark Mountains.

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Julia Temlyn (191) 05 May 2006 01:41 PM

I was working on our church's nursery recently, watching a few children. They decided to play dress-up with a trunk of dress-up clothes, and even found a fru-fru dress that was probably 2 sizes too small for me, but wanted me to play along, so I wore it over my outfit. Even the lone little boy was dressing up, in quite an outrageous array of clothing, I might add. He was a cross between a cowboy and a crossing guard, it appeared.

My best friend recently discovered a pattern to make a dress out of a pillowcase, and made one for her daughter. It turned out lovely, and was her Easter dress this year! Very unique, indeed!

Christina Huffman (1406) 05 May 2006 04:04 PM

Dress up is huge at my house! I have to keep buying larger boxes. I buy Haloween costumes when they go on clearance at sam's for $5.00. We have angels, ducks, bees, ladybugs. My mother-in-law even gave the kids some of the dress up stuff that my husband and his brothers used to play with. To top it all off, we have a stage in our basement, left over from previous owners. you know we have fun!

Sherry Holetzky (11404) 05 May 2006 04:40 PM

Too cute, Julia. We never seem to have a camera when we need one!

Sherry Holetzky (11404) 05 May 2006 04:41 PM

Wow, Christina, a stage!? How lucky. I bet you DO have fun!

Nicole Humphrey (15757) 06 May 2006 06:56 AM

Dress up used to be big in my house. My 8 yr old doesn't get into it anymore. LOL Though I do catch her dressing "diva style" from time to time and singing karaoke. These are great ideas Sherry!

Tip: Don't forget to look at garage sales either - often they are there - just have to look! We see stuff all the time!

Sherry Holetzky (11404) 06 May 2006 08:27 AM

Good tip, Nicole. Thanks!