Some kids will dress up and play role play games a lot, some will do it every now and then and some will never really get into it. For most children dressing up is a game they will play at home or at nursery/school and this kind of imaginative play can be very beneficial to their development both mentally and socially. Nowadays, many children are also holding themed birthday parties so this is another opportunity to wear these kinds of clothes. And, of course, some young kids will become incredibly attached to a certain dressing up outfit and will wear it on an everyday basis whatever they do and wherever they go!
General dressing up clothes
Younger children don't really understand at first the differences of gender and may wear any kind of dressing up outfit according to their interests and the games that they like to play. As they get older gender will become more of an issue and boys and girls may start to only wear certain gender-specific outfits. Some outfits, however, do not fall into this category and may be happily worn by both boys and girls of both genders -- these include animal costumes and teddy bear outfits, for example.
Girls' dressing up clothes
Although some girls will wear any outfit irrespective of the associated gender, many will stick to traditionally female clothes. These include princesses, fairies, angels, nurses and ballerinas. Many girls like to dress up in character related dressing up clothes. These may be connected to a brand, book, TV show or film that the girl particularly likes. Popular choices here include Disney characters such as Disney Princess, Barbie characters, female characters from The Incredibles and TV show characters such as Stephanie from Lazy Town and Dora the Explorer.
Boys' dressing up clothes
Again, some boys will wear any kind of dressing up costume but most will stick to gender specific outfits as they get older. Typical costumes here include doctors, pirates, cowboys, Indians, fire fighters and policeman. There are also plenty of TV and film characters that appeal to boys -- especially on the Superhero front. Popular outfits here include Batman, Power Rangers, Thunderbirds, Spiderman, male characters from The Incredibles and characters from films such as Toy Story.
Conclusion
Buying high quality dressing up clothes with plenty of room for growth spurts will help make sure that the outfits that you buy for your children will last as long as their interest does. Do make sure that any outfit purchased for a younger child is deemed safe for them to wear/play with -- some outfits come with parts and accessories that are unsafe for younger children so do check the age label guideline before buying any dressing up costumes or clothing. Finally, make sure to check that the materials used to make the dressing up clothes have been passed as OK from a fire safety perspective.
Author Resource:-
Steve Wilson is a freelance writer with a focus on parenting and consumer interests.
Further information on dressing up costumes together with a wealth of information, resources, kids safe websites & shopping can be found at Allkids, one of the UK`s most popular childrens and parenting resources with over 3.9 million visitors in 2006.
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