Dressing up as pirates, princesses and fairies and using the outdoor climbing frame as a pirate ship was the final part of our six-week project on clothes.
It began with a discussion with the children, who are aged three to four-and-a-half, about how the clothes we wear change as we grow older. We made our own game in which the children were given a selection of clothes that they had to separate into different age groups. It proved to be a really easy exercise for them.
The topic had endless possibilities. We talked about patterns, about the reasons people wear particular clothes, about party clothes and about the styles of clothes from all over the world.
I think what the children enjoyed most was dressing up and pretending they were somebody else. We have a big mirror in the nursery, which they loved looking in before and after to see the transformation. We then took individual pictures of the children and displayed them on the board.
We also made hats and other accessories. Most of the boys decided to make pirate hats, while the girls opted to become dainty princesses and fairies with magical wings and wands.
We even tried to make our very own saris. The children were given an old sheet and fabric paints to create designs, which were later ironed on. In hindsight, we should have then looked at clothes from other countries to make comparisons.
The children thoroughly enjoyed this activity, and it made them aware of different types of clothes. Dressing up allowed them to experiment for themselves, which they loved as they are naturally keen on parties at that age. It was great fun and now we have lots of ideas for next time!
Nursery assistant Linda Chudovszky spoke to Mahrukh Choughtai
