Pretend Play Suitable for Different Age Groups

Dress-up accessories, including costumes, ornaments, jewelry, and complete dress-up sets, are popular among all children except infants. Craft kits, such as those for jewelry-making, bead-stringing, weaving, and braiding hair, are also considered dress-up accessories. As children’s cognitive abilities develop and their hands become more dexterous, they incorporate dress-up accessories into increasingly complex pretend play. They draw inspiration from various media (primarily TV, videos, computers, and books), as well as from their interactions with family and friends, using these experiences as a foundation for imitation or as a springboard for their imagination.

When determining the suitability of dress-up accessories for specific age groups, the following characteristics should be primarily considered:

• Realism/Detail
• Character Licensing
• Material
• Required Motor Skills

However, the order of importance of these characteristics may vary with the child’s age. Below is a discussion of how these toy features relate to the traits of children in different age groups, including the types of dress-up accessories suitable for each group and how children use these toys.

12 to 18 Months

At around 12 months, children engage in very simple imitation and pretend play, mimicking adults and older children. By approximately 18 months, they start combining dress-up accessories with a few newly learned words to engage in basic pretend and imitation play. While children under 18 months do not frequently engage in pretend play, young toddlers begin to enjoy simple dress-up items such as easy-to-wear bracelets and headpieces. Toward the end of this stage, children are drawn to easily wearable clothes, such as sleeveless, zipper-free garments with large openings for arms and legs that can be slipped on. However, they may still need assistance from others.

At this stage, children often enjoy wearing necklaces, but these can pose choking and strangulation risks. Therefore, necklaces for children at this age should be designed to be easily removable and safe, such as those with breakaway features. Since toddlers tend to explore objects with their mouths and lack the fine motor skills to use certain tools in complete dress-up sets, or to handle sharp-edged or pointed tools, it is best to provide accessories with wide, rounded edges.

19 to 23 Months

Between 19 and 23 months, toddlers begin to understand that costumes and accessories symbolize different roles, many of which are inspired by licensed characters. Around 19 months, children’s dexterity and fine motor control improve further (e.g., they develop a pincer grasp using their thumb and forefinger). They increasingly enjoy dress-up accessories and become more skilled at handling them, such as unfastening Velcro or snap closures, although they may still struggle to reattach them.

Children of this age still enjoy the accessories they previously used, but they also start experimenting with new ways of dressing based on their simple ideas. They enjoy threading large beads, using ropes to string wooden cubes or boards with large holes, and working with blunt tools such as spindles, wooden or plastic implements, and woven or plastic strings. Additionally, they enjoy threading large beads (refer to “Media: Art and Crafts” for more information).

At this stage, toddlers enjoy a variety of basic dress-up items, such as shoes, hats, scarves, other headwear, hook-and-loop ties, bracelets, and necklaces. They tend to prefer items with average textures, such as simple, non-intricate designs with vibrant and bold colors. They still enjoy wearing necklaces and other items around their necks, so it is crucial that these accessories do not pose a choking hazard. Jewelry should be easy to put on and take off, such as elastic bracelets, with wide and rounded edges. Children at this stage are also drawn to costumes and accessories reminiscent of characters they’ve seen on TV or in videos.

2 Years Old

At two years old, children begin to engage in dress-up play more frequently, and their play becomes more complex. They tend to prefer dress-up items with low to moderate realism. They start to understand and appreciate the symbolic role of the items they wear, such as pretending to be a mother or a baby in a game of house. By nearly three years old, children can easily perform the typical actions and expressions of characters represented by their costumes, particularly those seen on TV or other media. Their dexterity improves, and by 30 months, they are able to handle Velcro or snap fasteners more skillfully and understand how to use large buttons, hooks, or loops on toys and blocks. They enjoy putting on simple clothes (such as dresses, hats, gloves) and wearing elastic bracelets or simple wigs. They also like to play with dress-up dolls, try on cards, shoes, and beads. Handheld mirrors, especially those themed around popular fairy tales like Cinderella, also appeal to them. They use these items for role-playing. Simple, easy-to-wear jewelry such as elastic bracelets and long necklaces that are free of choking hazards are also attractive at this age. Earrings or short necklaces are not of interest since they are not visible to the child.

3 Years Old

At three years old, children enjoy playing with moderately realistic costumes, accessories, and full dress-up sets, with colors that can range from bright and vivid to soft and subtle. Their dexterity improves further, and they gain better fine motor control and problem-solving skills, enabling them to dress and undress themselves with greater ease. The costumes and accessories they favor include those of superheroes and recognizable professions like doctors, police officers, and firefighters. They are also drawn to accessories like wigs and masks. For jewelry such as bracelets, necklaces, rings, and earrings, items with moderate realism in both design and function are most attractive. Simple fasteners like snaps, larger buttons, hooks, strings, and other fastenings are also manageable for them. They have also learned how to handle longer strings with a firm end. In addition, they begin making simple and orderly or repetitive bead patterns, such as red and blue beads. They enjoy stringing small beads, simple weaving toys, sewing cards, mat looms, and complete basic sewing kits (see "Media: Art and Crafts"). Although their fine motor control is not yet fully developed to use full sets of manicure and makeup tools, they have learned how to use these tools safely and appropriately during pretend play. By this age, children understand the basic concepts of good versus evil and enjoy playing games like police and robbers. Simple storylines related to adventure, dinosaurs, pets, and family contexts are also of interest. By three years old, children are more capable of removing necklaces from around their necks, but the hooks or clasps should be large enough for them to undo.

4 to 5 Years Old

At this stage, children have a deeper understanding of symbolism and possess intermediate problem-solving skills. Their fine motor skills have developed to a moderate level, and they are more capable of handling fasteners, buttons, hooks, and string toys typically used by adults. Tying bows may still be difficult, but they will try to master it.

When playing with smaller stringing beads, they are able to replicate longer, organized patterns and create simple, varied patterns. They enjoy using simple, full sets of weaving and sewing tools, sewing cards, and mat looms. By six years old, they can tie simple bows. They are very interested in dress-up accessories themed around various experiences and media (TV, videos, computer games, movies, and books), including doctors, houses/families, schools, police, military, firefighters, dinosaurs, pets, and spaceships. They enjoy playing more complex dress-up games for longer periods of time. At this age, they prefer more sophisticated and detailed costumes, such as superhero outfits and recognizable professions, and enjoy wearing jewelry (such as rings, earrings, bracelets, necklaces, wigs, hats, ties, and gloves) as well as full sets of tools (such as manicure and makeup kits). With these, they can create more complex, extended dramatic plays, and with adult guidance, they can be encouraged to extend the length of their playtime. Their hand flexibility continues to improve.