Dressing up clothes

Thanks to advice from you lovely lot, I finally got rid of a bag of puppets last year - and so far am not regretting it.

Next on the list of a potential cull is the dressing up collection. I have a box of scarves, shawls, hats, keys, bags and accessories that I will never get rid of due to the endless possibilities and their open ended nature.

However - commercial dressing up clothes...Some I will keep - police outfit and firefighter outfit off the top of my head as these seem to have a positive impact on the quality of play. Some other 'costumes' - princess outfits, tv characters - have been worn and enjoyed - but have they enhanced play or creativity? I'm not sure they have...

What dressing up items do you find most useful - and which ones just take up space?

I just have scarves, fabric scraps, clothes pegs etc. and they are used pretty much everyday for reoccurring and new things. My daughter has some commercial princess costumes which occasionally come out of her room but they have far more fun with the fabric (to quote ofsted-"Children enjoyed using their imagination as they made their own dressing-up costumes from a range of interesting props").

I'm also reducing the amount of stuff and am finding that less is more. I halved the amount of duplo I had and there has been no difference in the way it is played with, if anything it has encouraged careful consideration and more cooperation.

I 'culled' my dressing up last year , keeping only a basket of fabrics and real clothes - hats scarves etc. Various accessories supplement this , things such as real stethoscopes , walkietalkies etc The play and creativity are certainly enhanced , they can be whatever and whoever they choose rather than imitating a particular character.

I've never had commercial dressing up clothes, not even doctor, fireman etc. I don't think the children have ever missed out by not having them. If they are playing vets, for example, they will grab a waistcoat, hat, stethoscope, gloves, clipboard etc. They just seem to make their own clothes and props from what we have.

I do have a lovely box of hats that I picked up really cheap from Claire's Accessories when they were all reduced to £1 each. I've got berets, sailor type hat, a fez, wedding type hats, all sorts. They're always very popular.

Funny that you're culling - ive been trying to build mine up. Ive gone for obvious outfits too, though i do have a few scarves which are open ended.

Maza I am always confused by your posts - i thought you gave up minding?

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Originally Posted by mumofone

Funny that you're culling - ive been trying to build mine up. Ive gone for obvious outfits too, though i do have a few scarves which are open ended.

Maza I am always confused by your posts - i thought you gave up minding?

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Sorry, I do feel like a bit of a fraud sometimes, lol. I haven't given up minding - I'm on a break - like Ross and Rachel from friends! I definitely still see myself as a childminder and have kept all of my equipment. I think I can only keep my registration open for three years with no children on roll and so I do need to dip my toes into it again in the next year and a half. I'm hoping that when we eventually move into a house I can start up again seriously, but it got stressful when we got new downstairs neighbours who never left their flat. Before them we had a couple who were out at work during my minding hours and so what I did never impacted them. It worked like a dream.

During my clear out/cull I'm trying to decide which things are a must for childminding and which things I can get rid of. When I was minding my DD was roughly the same age as some mindees and so all my resources were relevant to her anyway, but now she has moved onto new things and it is quite tricky deciding on what is a good 'home' resource/toy and what is a good 'childminding' resource, if that makes any sense. There is a bit of a difference, I think.

I know in my posts I find myself writing in present tense but can't be bothered going back to change it all to past tense!

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Originally Posted by Maza

Thanks to advice from you lovely lot, I finally got rid of a bag of puppets last year - and so far am not regretting it.

Next on the list of a potential cull is the dressing up collection. I have a box of scarves, shawls, hats, keys, bags and accessories that I will never get rid of due to the endless possibilities and their open ended nature.

However - commercial dressing up clothes...Some I will keep - police outfit and firefighter outfit off the top of my head as these seem to have a positive impact on the quality of play. Some other 'costumes' - princess outfits, tv characters - have been worn and enjoyed - but have they enhanced play or creativity? I'm not sure they have...

What dressing up items do you find most useful - and which ones just take up space?

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Like lots of others, I just have scarves, hats, waistcoats etc and lots of bags and accessories. I used to have specific costumes but I found the play very narrow.
Oh I do still have a couple of sets of fairy wings though!
Mine all hang up on a children's coat stand, and accessories stored in plastic drawers. I do keep thinking about 'pruning' the collection, but can't quite get round to it!

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Originally Posted by loocyloo

Like lots of others, I just have scarves, hats, waistcoats etc and lots of bags and accessories. I used to have specific costumes but I found the play very narrow.
Oh I do still have a couple of sets of fairy wings though!
Mine all hang up on a children's coat stand, and accessories stored in plastic drawers. I do keep thinking about 'pruning' the collection, but can't quite get round to it!

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That's a clever way of storing them!

Like others I have a collection of scarves, shawls, tunics, hats etc, was lucky enough to acquire some costumes from a friend who helped run a drama club which includes things like folk aprons, a couple of sequinned jackets and waistcoats which can be used for wizards, ringmasters, rock stars and the like.
I have a few commercial things, doctor, nurse etc but again they are quite generic as the medical outfits could also be a vet. They all seem to love the pirate bits, and my old wedding hats best though lol!
I got rid of the princess dresses and they are not missed at all.

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Originally Posted by ChocolateChip

Like others I have a collection of scarves, shawls, tunics, hats etc, was lucky enough to acquire some costumes from a friend who helped run a drama club which includes things like folk aprons, a couple of sequinned jackets and waistcoats which can be used for wizards, ringmasters, rock stars and the like.
I have a few commercial things, doctor, nurse etc but again they are quite generic as the medical outfits could also be a vet. They all seem to love the pirate bits, and my old wedding hats best though lol!
I got rid of the princess dresses and they are not missed at all.

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I think that's just answered my question!