Friday, February 17, 2012

Halloween 365-Days a Year

That's right. I'm writing about Halloween in the middle of February. Want to know why? Because I have 3 young children who loooooooove to play dress-up! Who needs Halloween to wear costumes when you have little kids?

No one! My funny-little-monkeys dress-up at least 3 times a week. Not necessarily as monkeys, though we have one of those costumes too! My kids can dress as princesses, witches, monkeys, dogs, or fairies; if we don't have a costume to suit their current avenue of play, they will make one! Needless to say, our dress-up clothes are put into very good use all year round.

This week the girls are role-playing 'maid-servant' to a princess, who is, in the words of my oldest, "very rude." I believe I may have mentioned feeling like their maid-servant the other day. My best mothering moment? No, but it spurred their imaginations and that is a wonderful thing!

Did you know that by encouraging our children's imagination and providing concrete tools (like costumes, kitchen sets, dolls, etc.) to facilitate imaginative play, you are providing the foundation for future success? Studies show us that imaginative play actually helps our children learn to cope better with stress and build critical cognitive skills like problem-solving and visual processing.

When your little one gets wrapped up in playing and pretending, guess what other awesome skill he's developing? Self-regulation. Otherwise known as self-control. A highly-desired trait that I want my toddler-boy to develop!

Plus, playing is fun. And that's what childhood should be: Fun-filled days brimming with adventures with princesses, fairies and sometimes even a not-so-scary witch! So pull-out those Halloween costumes and get playing!

Disclosure: This post was brought to you by Halloweenmart.com, but the writing came straight from the cognitive skills formed through my many years of happy imagining and playing dress-up!

10 comments:

  1. My kiddos love to dress up- we keep every costume every year. It makes me giggle when they try to put something on from a few years back!

    I am running a new Google+ Weekend Hop and would love it if you could stop by and link up! Oh and I added you to my Circles Thanks so much- Aimee (Classified: Mom)

    ReplyDelete
  2. For my daughter's second birthday my neighbor put together a dress up station for her room. She loves it! I love picking up costume jewelry and shoes at the thrift shop too. Her favorite costume is at my neighbors house though.. it's a bee! haha she calls it "bullah bee!"
    Makes for good memories :) Wouldn't it be cute to do a Happy Halloween joke photocard of your kids to send to the grandparents? Like sometime around Easter haha when no one is thinking about Halloween at all!

    Visiting from the Lovin the Weekend blog hop! I'm your newest follower!
    http://eightdaysaweekmom.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That's awesome! I once went on a home tour to all of these amazing houses in Singapore (I lived there at the time). This one woman had an entire room devoted to costumes - racks and racks!! Yet, there were even more dress up clothes in the kids rooms! Crazy fun.

      Delete
  3. Lol your kids sound like they have awesome imaginations which so many children don't explore these days! Plus like you say, being a kid is supposed to be fun!
    I'm a new follower and am looking forward to reading your posts :) I found your blog through the lovin' the weekend blog hop. I hope you can take a minute to check out www.shushkat.blogspot.com and follow if you like it :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you, Shona! What a beautiful name you have! My kids do have awesome imaginations and I encourage them and encourage them to explore. How could I not? I'm a writer and I love to play!
      Thanks so much for stopping by. I'll be checking out your blog soon!

      Delete
  4. Dressing up so much fun! I usually get in the act with my children. Last week I went to the store and noticed the check out lady looking a little askance at me. I left the store and looked at myself in the car window and realized I had forgotten to take off the crown I had been wearing at home with my kids. Oops!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. LOL!!!! That is hilarious! I can't tell you how many times I've accidentally left the house with princess clips in my hair or some silly scarf. Never a crown though. That rocks!

      Delete
  5. I loved dressing up as a kid and would have loved to have had more costumes. How smart to have costumes available all year long and too funny about the maid-servants!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for stopping by! Dressing up is so much fun. Halloween is a great excuse for adults, but kids should do it as often as they please (within reason, of course!).

      Delete

Go on, tell me what you think!