The Importance of Dress Up in Dramatic Play

PR Blog discusses the importance of dress up in dramatic play:

Why are dress up games and dramatic play so important for childhood development?
There are many benefits to dramatic play and dress up, and it’s important that you set aside time each and every day to play together with your child.  Let’s look at some examples of things that dramatic play helps kids do:

Explore issues in their lives – small children have difficulty grasping things like a new baby, a sick relative, or a move.  Dramatic play allows you and your child to explore the changes that are about to occur, in a fun and exciting way.  How about pretending that their dolls are sick, and they must go to the hospital to get better?  Or maybe Mr. Bear has to move to a different town and try to make new friends with the other bears in town?  The possibilities are endless- and you are free to discuss fears and concerns with your child in an imaginative way.

Experiment with different behaviors – playing together doesn’t come naturally to kids.  They must work on cooperating with others and dealing with anger and frustration when it arises.  One of the best ways to do this is through dress up.  Wouldn’t you much rather your child gets upset with a stuffed animal, then a fellow playmate?

Practice decision-making/problem solving – if there are four kids and two cookies, how can you divide them up so that everyone gets their share?  Try that experiment with a room full of toddlers, and someone is going to end up in tears.  Act it out at home in the safety of dramatic play, and a life lesson will be learned.

Process different points of view – How do you help your child become sympathetic with the world around them?  You teach them what it feels like to walk a mile in someone else’s shoes.  Dress up allows your child to be anyone that they want to be, and helps them understand where the other person is coming up.  Remember playing school as a kid?  Being the teacher gave you a whole new perspective on what it was like to be a student.

Learn new concepts – there are so many other things that your child could gain from dramatic play.  Math can be taught through a pretend trip to the grocery store for example. 

Dramatic play helps your child become a valuable part of the adult world, while keeping them safe and secure.  Don’t be afraid to let your child lead the way, and listen when they speak.  You may just gain a better understanding of the world too!

Around the World, on your Couch

1. Read a book. Your library is probably full of books to help you and your kids explore the world. Check the nonfiction section for travel guides, history books, cookbooks, and more. In the fiction section, you can find books about the folklore, history, or other novels set in a different country.

2. Make a craft like a piece of art from a foreign country.

3. Listen to music. Your local library probably has a selection of cd's with music from around the world. Check one out. Dance, sing, and enjoy a new sound. Or, you can check out YouTube. Search for international music for kids, or try your cable company's digital music channels.

4. Hear or read a first-hand account. Do you know someone who has lived in a foreign country? See if they would be willing to tell your children a bit about that country.

5. Learn about the native animals from a given region.

6. Explore the folklore. Read some of the traditional stories of a culture; those that have been passed down year after year after year

7. Experience the food. Take a trip with your taste buds! Trying new foods is a wonderful and fun way to experience another culture.

8. Play a game. Games are universal and your kids can experience a new culture by playing a traditional game.

9. Make and play a traditional instrument. Every culture has music and dance associated with it. Why not learn to play some traditional music from around the world.

10. Celebrate a new holiday or festival. Celebrations are an important part of every culture. Learn about a new culture by celebrating its holidays. 

Source: Creative Family Fun

Children Learn Through Play

As infants, children explore their physical and social world through their senses. Adults can facilitate learning through play by providing infants with opportunities to see, touch, taste, and smell a variety of phenomena. At this stage, give-and-take games such as peek-a-boo with loving, responsive adults help infants learn to interact socially.

At the toddler stage, children begin to develop the ability to engage in early pretend play - imitating familiar events in their lives. Toddlers experience strong emotions which they are not yet able to fully understand. By acting out emotion-laden scenes in their play, such as reassuring a doll that mommy will return, toddlers learn to cope with fears and they gain the self-control that will propel them to the next stage of development.

As children enter the preschool and kindergarten years, they begin to explore the world through indirect experiences such as stories, pictures, and television programs. Information gained in this way becomes the basis for imaginative play which takes children beyond the here and now.

At this stage, play activities such as drawing, building with blocks, dance, music, and crafts help children expand their knowledge and understanding of the world while developing eye-hand coordination and other motor skills. Children also become increasingly focused on peers at this stage. They benefit from play activities, props, and toys that encourage them to interact with others and engage in 'dramatic' make-believe play.

As children move into the elementary school years, the focus shifts from dramatic or pretend play to 'games with rules' and organized sports which require strategy and skill. Games with rules include traditional board games, card, video, and computer games, as well as physical games such as tag and 'red rover.' Through these play experiences, children hone their ability to relate to others, their gross motor skills, and their eye-hand coordination.

At about age 9 to 12, team sports take on increasing importance, helping children refine their abilities to reason, think strategically, and interact with others. They also refine these skills through play activities such as crafts, advanced building sets, science projects, sophisticated jigsaw puzzles, and computer and video games.

In many cases, play activities at this age become the basis for life-long interests and hobbies. While children begin to play less in the traditional sense as they move into their teenage years, they begin to transform their interests and hobbies into the 'play of the adult.'

Learning - and learning through play - is a continuous and rewarding journey!

Sources: Association for Children's Museums, Northern Illinois University

10 Ways to Explore Dramatic Play

1. Act out a book. Pick a familiar story and have kids act it out.

2. Provide a fun pretend play set-up. Think about your child's current interests. Do they love to help you in the kitchen? Then, set up a pretend-play kitchen area. Do they love to play doctor? Then, set up a hospital or a vet clinic.

3. Make puppets. Puppets are both fun to make and fun to play with.

4. Play dress-up. You can find inexpensive items for dress-up at a thrift store or even go through your closet. There may be clothes hanging in there that you no longer wear, but would be perfect for dress-up play. 

5. Combine sensory play and pretend play. Use dirt and construction toys to bring a construction site to life.

6. Have fun with small world play. Help you kids set up a scene for small toys or dolls to play in. They can experience and learn with dramatic play on a small scale. 

7. Use music. Use a song with actions or one that tells a story. Encourage you're children to sing, dance and do actions. Make sure you join in and have fun!

8. Make and use masks. It's easy to pretend you're someone or something else when you put on a mask. 

9. Use blocks and loose parts to set the scene. Will your children build roads or a castle? Either way they're setting up a scene that will provide hours of pretend play.

10. Above all else, make it accessible and easy for your kids to enjoy dramatic play. Put the dress up clothes where your kids can get to them whenever it strikes their fancy. Have a box of loose parts always available so they can create and pretend.

*Bonus Activity: Go outside! It's so easy to grab a stick and turn it into a magic wand. They've traveled to the moon, through a forest, and even to a magical fairy-tale kingdom without even leaving our backyard.

Source: Creative Family Fun

Ten Commandments of Dramatic Play in the Home

The Ten Commandments of Dramatic Play in the Home

First, be your child’s playmates — this is most effective when your children are young. However, let your child be in charge.

Second, if your child is older (more than 4 years of age), arrange a play date so that they can support each other’s dramatic play.

Third, play along if your child creates an imaginative playmate. Usually this playmate has a character which complements theirs. However, draw a line and be firm when your child starts to do something ‘naughty’ and blame this on her imaginative friend.

Fourth, do not intervene with your child’s play. Let their imagination flow.

Fifth, do not interrupt the play even when it’s time for your ‘child-turned-caveman’ to have lunch. Your child can always have lunch in his ‘cave’.

Sixth, provide a space in your home for imaginative play even if this means that your home will not look like a ‘designer home’ for a while. For instance, let your child transform the dining room table into a cave, or let her connect all the coffee and side tables and transform them into a tunnel.

Seventh, read a lot to your children and take them to as many places as you can. After reading, ask stimulating questions to your child, for instance, “What would you do if you were a …..?”. These will provide them with more experience more ideas for pretend play.

Eighth, when searching for a preschool for your child, investigate whether the preschool will support imaginative play.

Ninth, for older children, consider involving them in theatrical productions or puppet movies.

Tenth, provide your children with many toys which support imaginative play.

Source: Best Child's Toys of Texas and Dramatic Play at WordPress

Play Across Ages

How is Dramatic Play Different in Children of Different Ages?

Serena’s brother Stanley is two and a half years old. His favorite place to play is the sandbox. He spends long periods of time peacefully pouring, sifting and digging in the sand. Recently he has begun to imitate a large construction machine that has been used in a road- widening project near Mrs. Conklin’s house. Stanley’s play begins when he assumes a position on all fours in the sandbox. Stanley uses his right arm and hand as a slow-moving, rhythmical shovel. As he digs he makes noises that are uncannily like those made by the machine he has observed. Occasionally he sits back on his heels and wipes the back of his hand across his brow. Mrs. Conklin tries to offer him a drink of water at these "breaks" and to inquire about the progress of the work. In this way Stanley learns that his efforts are important and worthy of respect.

While Stanley digs, two four year olds in another part of the yard are engaging in yet another form of dramatic play. After arranging some small plastic dolls in a shoe box one says to the other "No honey. I’ll drive the children to the doctor. You have to go to work now!" and she drives the shoe box car across the lawn.

Mrs. Conklin’s five-year-old son particularly enjoyed a family camping trip over the summer. When he and his six year- old cousin are together they beg Mrs. C. for a tent, which she provides by throwing an old sheet over the picnic table and anchoring the edges with logs. "They take all kinds of things in there to use as sleeping bags, blocks for flashlights, pretend food, and other blocks for "firewood". Sometimes they invite the younger children in for a pretend supper around the campfire. At other times Mrs C. encourages the play by suggesting that she serve snack at the "camp".

Children over the age of five continue to enjoy dramatic play, sometimes inventing elaborate games that continue for days or weeks. They may also use puppets or paper cutouts to enact stories or put on simple plays (which occasionally go on for a longer time than adult audiences might wish!). In their play they become everything from astronauts to ballerinas.

Source: Pennsylvania State University

Reconstructing Life Experiences

Kudos to New Creations Preschool who understands the value of dramatic play. In their article they state:

"...[A] favorite area for a lot of kids is our Dramatic Play Center. This area provides dress-up clothing, housekeeping materials, a doctor kit, a birthday party kit, and such things as pizza/restaurant props.

While you may think the kids are just playing and having fun here, they are developing important skills in many areas—language, social, emotional, motor, and cognitive. In “What are the benefits of dramatic play in early childhood,” Jennifer Streit sites how each of these areas benefit. She also points out that the Association of Childhood Education International (ACEI) states that dramatic play is imperative to a child’s growth in all areas of learning and cannot be replaced by adult instruction.

Dramatic play is the child’s way of reconstructing and reenacting his/her life experiences.  Their play shows us how they think our world works. Children also express their feelings of frustration and anxieties through role playing, which they may not express through conversation with an adult."