Play dress ups Activity
Imaginations are stimulated by pretend play, like dressing up.
Why do it?
- Pretending to be someone else helps children make sense of their world and other people.
- They can try out different roles.
- This activity can give children opportunities to be creative and explore characters.
- Children can work through situations that are worrying them, such as a visit to the doctor.
- Dressing up gives them practice at dressing and undressing.
- Helps tamariki make good use of their imagination
How to do it
Use whatever you have: Funny clothes, glasses, scarves, hats, hairstyles and makeup for the tamariki to choose from.
- Get dressed: Take turns choosing clothing for each other.
- Style your hair with a hat, hair gel, or hair ties.
- Add funny makeup, a scar, freckles or a moustache!
Extras:
- Choose a new name. Talk in funny voices. Make a dress up box!
- Ask tamariki who they are being and what else they need for their role.
- Act out familiar stories or events, such as legends about people like Māui, tales such as ‘Goldilocks and the Three Bears’, or more modern stories with heroes like Superman.
- Encourage them to think creatively. Ask them what they could use to ‘invent’ props to add to their play — for example, Māui’s waka or the Batmobile.
- Make animal ‘ears’ using cardboard or paper. Tape the ears to a headband or make a circle of cardboard and staple the ears on.
- Make tails with pieces of fabric, or a leg cut from an old pair of pantyhose and stuffed with scraps of material. Tuck it into the back of their pants or tie it to a piece of elastic that fits around their waist.
- Encourage them to put on a show for whānau.
Using more te reo Māori
| Te reo Māori | English |
|---|---|
| Kākahu | Clothes |
| Pōtae | Hat |
| Makawe | Hair |
| Kata | Laugh |
| Whakapīwari | Jewellery |
