Dress up and dramatic play can help children understand what's real and what's pretend. Sometimes pretending can seem so real that children wonder if putting on a costume might actually change them inside. It's important for them to know that although we can pretend to be someone else, we can never be someone else. We will always be ourselves.

Playing about Being in Charge

One of the fascinating things about growing is how we move from dependence to independence. How dependent and independent children are -- and how dependent and independent they want to be -- is one of the biggest struggles of our earliest years. While children are often arguing about wanting to be in complete charge, they don't really want to be in charge because that would be too scary for them. Nevertheless, they can play about being in charge. In their play, children can put their toys and pretend people in different situations and make them act in ways they couldn't control real people or real big things around them. They play "all grown up"! Don't be surprised, though, if in the next moment they're playing about being the baby!

Imagining Leads to Learning

Dress-up play also encourages imagination. Whenever you encourage children's imagination, you're also stretching children's thinking skills. Young children know best what they see, hear, smell, or touch. That's concrete thinking. But when they use their imagination for their pretend play, they're using abstract thinking, and that's essential for school learning and for creative thinking and problem-solving all through life.

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