Babysitting: The Dress-Up Challenge

By Amanda Cohen on October 31, 2016

It doesn’t matter if you are babysitting boys, girls, or anyone else, the bottom line is that all children LOVE to play dress-up. I distinctly remember a huge blue trunk of dress-up clothes that my sister and I would put on all of the time (I even wore my favorite princess costume to school for a few weeks).

However, when it comes to babysitting children and you are out of your own home, you never really know what play items or dress-up items that houses will have, unless you have been babysitting there for a long time. You want to make sure that you keep the kids happy and active when you are babysitting, and dress-up is the perfect way to do this (especially if you join along by putting on a crown or something).

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Here are some ways to get the children you are babysitting to play dress-up without having to spend any extra money.

Old Halloween Costumes: Old Halloween costumes are perfect for dress-up. Whether you were a Ninja Turtle, a princess, or someone from Star Wars, you really can’t go wrong. If you don’t have any of your old Halloween costumes, ask your neighbors, friends, and other family members if they are willing to lend you some of their stuff and offer to wash everything properly after you use it.

Even if you don’t have Halloween costumes in their entirety, look around for old masks, shoes, light sabers, and props just to get the ball rolling when you start playing dress-up.

Old Everyday Clothes: This suggestion might seem silly, but so many kids love to dress up as their moms and/or their dads. Even if some of the clothing is a little too big, the kids will enjoy playing mommy and daddy for a period of time and will feel like adults!

You can bring old khakis, button-up shirts, dresses, shoes, sunglasses, hats, jerseys, skirts, and more! When you do this, suggest playing a game of house where you’re the child being babysat and the child/children are the parent/parents. If you are thinking about doing this, find a silly shirt that screams childhood (maybe something with a funny creature on it or something in bright colors)!

Hair Supplies: This suggestion applies mostly to young girls, but if the boys have long enough hair, this can apply to them too! There is nothing better than getting your hair done (not cut, just done). Kids love to style their hair in fun, exotic ways, and you can help them do this!

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You can bring pre-washed barrettes, hair-gel, pre-washed ponytail holders, a curling iron, a flat iron, and a blow dryer. If you are talented in the hair department, maybe braid the child’s hair and they can dress as a cowboy! If you are keen on curling hair, give the child Shirley Temple-like locks for a fun, new, cute look! The possibilities are honestly endless!

Computer: This one sounds so odd and I know a bunch of you are wondering what a computer has to do with playing dress-up. Well, I’ll tell you! Sometimes children can have a hard time articulating exactly what they want to dress up as or how they want to have their hair done. Get the Wi-Fi password and help them search for some inspiration!

Hit up their favorite television shows, books, Pinterest, and so on to give them an idea, and give yourself an idea, on what direction they want to take dressing up. In addition, if the child asks for a hair style or an outfit that you are either unfamiliar with or just cannot fathom how you would make it work, look on YouTube for a tutorial!

Also, if the children want to play princess, house, rocket ship, or something, you can even play some background music so that dressing up and playing pretend feels even more real!

With all of this being said, it is of utmost importance to talk to the parent/parents of the child/children beforehand to see what they are comfortable with. Some parents may already have dress-up items so that you don’t need to bring your own, and other parents may not feel comfortable with you styling their child’s hair.

It is extremely important to make sure that the children have fun, but it is even more important to talk to the parent/parents prior to see how he/she/they feel about your plans. If they don’t feel comfortable with your plans, you can always use alternative ideas … for example, play pretend without the dress up component, or just play with the toys that the kids already have in the house.

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No matter what you and the parents decide, just make sure that the kids are entertained and that they go to sleep when the parents ask them to! Good luck!

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