Dress-Up Box
What you need
- a box or basket of dressing-up clothes: old hats, scarves
- an old sheet
- a blanket for a cape
How to do it
- Put the box of hats, scarves, the sheet and the blanket on the floor and sit down beside it.
- Let them choose what to put on, and help with anything tricky.
- Lay the blanket over their shoulders as a cape, never tied round their neck.
- Tell the story of who they are as they go: a wizard, a friendly ghost, a cat with a hat.
- Swap and let them choose something for you to wear.
Why it matters
Choosing a costume and becoming someone else for a while is early storytelling, and dressing up at their own pace lets Halloween feel fun rather than frightening.
What they're learning
- Pretend play
- Being a wizard or a cat for a few minutes is early make-believe, trying on being someone else.
- Making choices
- Picking this hat over that one is a small decision that is all theirs.
- Dressing
- Pulling a hat on and a scarf off is practice for getting dressed on their own.
What to look for
Watch for them telling you who they are before you ask. Keep anything off their face, and put scarves round the waist as a belt or over an arm, never round the neck.
A tip
Leave out masks and anything with ties, and keep it to soft, friendly characters.
Make it easier or harder
Easier: start with one hat each and nothing else
Harder: let them dress a teddy too and tell you who teddy is
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Quiet & calm activities · Activities for 2 year olds · Toddler activities with a basket · Toddler activities with a cardboard box · Toddler activities with a blanket