Toddler dress up box - ideas please, wise ones!

[StargazyDrifter]

My DD is 14 month old and has recently discovered that she is in fact the baby in the mirror. Since then, she has been posing with all sorts of props: my glasses, nappy over her head (clean, thankfully!), looking at herself with/without dummy. It’s made me think she might enjoy a little dress up box as she grows.

I would love to hear about your toddler props and costumes. So far, all I have are some bear ears. I was thinking that charity shops might be a good start.

I think I would just raid my wardrobe first. Our dressing up box as children was all my mum's old dresses, bags, shoes etc. We enjoyed it as far as I remember.

My two enjoy clip-on tails they got at the zoo and hair-clip ears. All the hats in the world too!

Lots of different hats and sunglasses and bags, DD always used to like putting on her elder brothers clothes, their pyjamas were nice and easy for her get on and off at that age.

starting a bit older i bought for the grand kids; safari explorer pith and binoculars along with the tan shirt. medical lab type coat with stethoscope, and mini microscope, animal ones, make believe ones (dino, dragon, fairy). little red riding hood, red cape and picnic basket....loads and loads out there to choose from pick quality over quantity because mine sure played with the stuff for many years.

This is such a good idea! Think I'd enjoy looking round charity shops for mad hats.

Tiger Copenhagan do good sunglasses with bits on.

Ours is mainly hats and scarves at the moment (these can be capes, dresses, skirts, headscarves etc) and little jackets like a police one, fireman, builder etc plus a few animal ears, she has a superhero mask too. She's not interested in putting on princess dresses etc so far.

Another vote for lots of different hats. I bought some cheap ones from wilco. Police, fire brigade, nurse, builder, flat cap, top hat, crown etc.

Tutus
Angel wings
Hi Viz police tabard
A red cape (versatile - little red riding hood or superhero!) Or a black cape (witch, wizard)

Hats!

Melissa and Doug do hat sets. Or did when DD was a baby.

Handbags are a favourite as well. We got from charity shops.

Crowns/tiaras, sunglasses, Hawaiian necklace were all big hits here at that age.

Id avoid anything that you need to help her to get into, otherwise you'll be forever getting her in/out of clothes.

Go for accessories rather than clothes so they will last longer. Accessorize have a couple of good sets.

My children LOVE dressing up and we now have a very extensive dressing up box! It builds over time naturally so you can just get a few things to start and then get more of whatever is capturing her attention!

To start with, hats are the best as they can put them on unaided from very early on. We have a Melissa and Doug set that have been going strong for more than 2 years so far. It’s a pirate hat, red fire fighter helmet, cowboy hat, a crown and a black hat. We also have tiaras, animal ear hair bands, and a couple of fascinators from charity shops that look like ascot ladies day hats on a toddler.

Accessories are good too - fairy wings, capes, a knight’s shield, wands, handbags (charity shops)

Also repurpose stuff from round the house/your wardrobe. We have a wooden spoon “sword”, my old undergrad gown is used for being a witch/wizard/vampire, an old tea towel plus a stretchy hair band is a shepherd’s headdress, spare colander (cheap supermarket one) and clean wellies is an astronaut outfit... cardboard boxes have endless uses. It is SO much fun!

Hope you have an awesome time, I love the toddler stage onwards (I didn’t enjoy the baby stage much but toddlers are hilarious and they get better and better company from then on).

Sainsburys do all sorts of costumes around halloween and not (only) scary ones, we got DD a Zog dragon one and they had things like cowboy and fairy. If you waited until after halloween they'd probably be hugely reduced. She would be a bit small at the moment but would enjoy playing with the accessories.