The Dressing-Up Box — Becoming a Character

Keep a box of open-ended dress-up bits — scarves, hats, a cape, an apron, a bag, a length of fabric — and let the child put something on and become someone else: a firefighter, a doctor, a dragon, a parent, an explorer. The magic is in staying in character — moving, speaking, and deciding as that person would — which is harder, and more developmental, than it looks.

  1. Offer a small, open-ended dress-up collection (favor scarves and simple items over one-character licensed costumes — a scarf can be a cape, a baby sling, a king’s robe, or a river).

  2. Let the child choose and transform. When they put on the hat, ask them as the character: “Good morning, Captain — where are we sailing today?”

  3. Play along in a supporting role and keep them in character with in-world questions (“Doctor, is my arm going to be okay?”) rather than stepping outside the story.

  4. Give the role something to do — a patient to treat, a fire to put out, a baby to feed — so the character has a purpose to sustain.

  5. Follow their lead on how long it lasts; some days it’s a two-minute transformation, some days an afternoon.

Variation: rotate the kit and add a prop tied to a recent book, outing, or interest to spark new characters. With other children, nudge toward a shared scene where each holds a role (doctor, patient, worried parent). Offer the full range of roles to every child, regardless of gender.

Requirements

  • Space: A little room to move and a mirror if you have one; no special space needed
  • Surface: Floor; clear of trip hazards for active roles
  • Materials: A box of open-ended dress-up items — scarves or play silks, hats, a cape, an apron, a bag, simple tool props; avoid neck cords and drawstrings
  • Participants: 1 child with you, or a small group for shared role-play
  • Supervision: Light to moderate — keep a closer eye when capes, masks, or active rescuing are involved

Rationale & Objective

Putting on a hat or cape is a powerful trigger to become and sustain a character, and that staying-in-role is exactly where Vygotsky located play’s contribution to self-regulation: an imaginary situation always carries rules, so to act the firefighter or the parent the child must inhibit out-of-role impulses and follow the role’s logic — which is why “in play it is as though the child were a head taller than himself” (Vygotsky, 1967; Bodrova & Leong, 2007). Role-play also exercises theory of mind: enacting another person means representing their thoughts, feelings, and intentions. The link between this mental-state understanding and language is real but directional — Astington and Jenkins (1999) found earlier language predicted later theory of mind rather than the reverse — and Harris (2000) argues imagination feeds children’s cognitive and emotional growth from the toddler years on.

Be careful with the strong claim. Dress-up is a recognized site for trying on social roles and building self-concept, and occupational therapy treats it as core childhood occupation — the AOTA Practice Framework (2020) literally uses “a child playing superhero dress up” as its example of play as occupation. But the specific pretend-play-causes-theory-of-mind link is not established; Lillard et al. (2013) found that evidence inconsistent. So the honest benefit is that costume role-play is a rich, motivating context that exercises perspective-taking, narrative, self-regulation, and identity — and, as a bonus, the buttons, zips, and fasteners build real dressing skills. It targets this subdomain’s example of taking on and sustaining a role, and supports GOLD Objective 14b, HighScope KDI 43, and the EYFS being-imaginative goal.

Progress Indicators

  • Early: puts costumes on and off for the novelty and the feel of them; wears an item briefly with no sustained character, and may simply parade or collect the pieces
  • Developing: names the character the costume stands for (‘I’m a doctor’) and performs a signature action or two (listens with a stethoscope), but slips out of role quickly
  • Proficient: stays in role for a good stretch with matching voice, gestures, and words; the costume cues consistent in-character behavior (the firefighter drives, sprays, rescues) and they answer others as the character
  • Advanced: sustains and co-develops a role with peers, negotiating the scenario and sharing out parts (‘you be the patient, I’ll be the doctor, the baby is sick’), introduces problems and resolutions, and shifts flexibly between characters

Safety Notes

  • Capes, cloaks, and any neck cords or drawstrings are a strangulation hazard (the US CPSC documents deaths from clothing drawstrings catching on equipment) — choose items that fasten with Velcro or snaps at the neck, and never let a child wear a cape on a slide or climbing frame
  • Floor-length costumes and oversized shoes cause trips, and masks or helmets obscure vision and breathing — favor face paint or half-masks, and no running or stairs with vision blocked
  • Dress-up jewelry, badges, and sequins are small parts and choking hazards, especially around younger siblings
  • Use breathable, flammability-compliant fabrics and skin-safe, labeled face paints

Hints

  • Playfulness: treat the child entirely as the character — greet ’the doctor’ with genuine deference and a problem to solve, and they will stay in role far longer than if you keep breaking the spell.
  • Sustain interest: rotate a small open-ended kit rather than amassing licensed costumes — one scarf is a cape, a sling, a river, a wizard’s robe — and add a prop linked to a recent story or trip to seed new roles.
  • Common mistake: over-realistic single-purpose or branded costumes that script just one story, steering the options by gender, directing or correcting the role (‘dragons don’t cook’), or interrupting a sustained character with out-of-world questions.
  • Limited space / no equipment: a single scarf, a paper hat, or a cardboard ‘steering wheel’ is enough, and pure mime works with nothing at all.
  • Cross-domain: in-role dialogue grows language; fastening buttons, zips, and ties builds fine-motor and real self-care dressing skills; acting another’s viewpoint develops empathy and theory of mind; trying on roles supports identity and emotional growth; and holding to the role’s rules trains self-regulation.
  • Progression: one costume and one clear character → add a prop and a simple goal (’the patient has a sore arm’) → encourage staying in voice and role → invite a peer and co-create a scenario with a problem to solve → sustain and adapt a role across a longer, shared story.

Sources

  • Vygotsky, L. S. (1967). “Play and its role in the mental development of the child.” Soviet Psychology, 5(3), 6–18 (role-rules and self-regulation)
  • Astington, J. W. & Jenkins, J. M. (1999). “A longitudinal study of the relation between language and theory-of-mind development.” Developmental Psychology, 35(5), 1311–1320
  • Harris, P. L. (2000). The Work of the Imagination. Blackwell
  • American Occupational Therapy Association (2020). “Occupational Therapy Practice Framework: Domain and Process” (4th ed.). American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 74(Suppl. 2) — play as occupation; uses ‘a child playing superhero dress up’ as an example
  • Lillard, A. S., Lerner, M. D., Hopkins, E. J., Dore, R. A., Smith, E. D. & Palmquist, C. M. (2013). “The impact of pretend play on children’s development: A review of the evidence.” Psychological Bulletin, 139(1), 1–34
  • Bodrova, E. & Leong, D. J. (2007). Tools of the Mind: The Vygotskian Approach to Early Childhood Education (2nd ed.). Pearson
  • Consumer Product Safety Commission — guidance on drawstrings and cords on children’s clothing (strangulation hazard)
  • Waldorf/Steiner early-childhood tradition — open-ended dress-up materials (play silks) over fixed character costumes
  • Teaching Strategies GOLD — Objective 14b (engages in sociodramatic play)
  • HighScope KDI 43 (pretend play, Creative Arts)
  • UK EYFS — Expressive Arts and Design — Being Imaginative and Expressive ELG