As someone who dresses purely for comfort, it has been a source of endless amusement to me that Veronika loves to accessorize. A spare sock, a random belt; whatever she finds lying around the apartment she immediately drapes over herself and strikes a pose. So today we had some costume fun, starting out with the simplest prop: scarves!

Play scarves can be so many things. I tied one around her waist for an instant “tutu”. You could tell she felt glamorous!

Then I made a simple medieval hat by twisting a piece of construction paper into a cone and taping a scarf on the top. It was a little wobbly, but she still loved it.

Scarves are great for further make-believe while your child is in costume. We tied two together and “swam” them through her noble court as fish.

She recently watched real fish in a tank, so loved saying the word as the scarves swam around us.

To further engage her imagination, we did then play dress-up with a kit. I stayed away from named characters, knowing that she would love draping herself in lace, beads, and fancy headgear from a generic boxed set. And did she ever!

Whether it’s as simple scarves or more complicated like purchased dress-up, play clothes are great fuel for the imagination.

She wanted to dress “Baby” up, too!