The Dress Up Box - Old Fashioned Toys for Today's Families

Sorry LastPenny's been quiet the last couple of days - I've succumbed to a nasty cold! But today things are looking up so we're back to our regular posting schedule :)

Kids today are not really any different from us when we were little. Sure, they've been exposed to electronics and communications from an early age - but that doesn't mean that the only toys that interest them are expensive, flashy electronics.

When kids play, they like to act out their fantasies. And toys that enable them to do that are the toys they'll come back to, time and time again.

The Dress Up Box

If your childhood was anything like mine, the dress-up box got to come out on "special occasions" - and looking back, those "special occasions" were any time our parents wanted us raptly amused for hours at a stretch!

Perfect for rainy weekends, cousins visiting, children's parties, or simply everyday play, a dress-up box costs around five dollars or less to assemble and will provide literally years of fun.

You can work with a simple cardboard box, but if you have an old suitcase, it's even better. I remember ours was in an old-fashioned leather trunk, which added to the air of mystery. If you're using a box, have the kids decorate it with stickers and drawings - you'll love to look back at the box in years to come.

A good dress-up box contains:

• Clothes. Rather than buying kids dress-up outfits from the store (expensive and unnecessary), go to your nearest op shop. Look for items made of glittery or shiny fabric, netting, velvet, corduroy - fabrics with texture and presence. The size and the fit of the items don't matter - kids will wear things the way they want to when they are dressing up, and "grown-up" clothes are half the fun.
• Little boys in general love suit jackets and ties. Look for 80s suits in bright colours, pin stripes and other eyecatching looks.
• If you have access to any kinds of old uniforms, pop them in. Lab coats can sometimes be found in op shops - grab one if they come up!
  
• Add things like old sheets and lengths of fabric (most fabric shops have cheap remnant bins) for making costumes.
• Accessories such as scarves, costume jewellery, handbags.
  
• Have plenty of reds and blacks for witch/wizard outfits.
• Don't include shoes, or bring them out only when supervised - kids can hurt themselves running about in ill-fitting shoes.
• Have face-paint or some cheap make-up for very special supervised play sessions :)