On bridge building and dress-up:

Dress-up takes a lot of staff time (straightening and hanging up) and
maintenance (cleaning and repairing - a sewing volunteer is a boon) but adds
considerably to fantasy play.  I think also that dress-up is its own thing,
part of children's ability to make theater of their lives, and not
necessarily a logical add-on to bridge building with manipulatives.  But it
will make sense to adults to have the activities side by side.

The use of costumes changes considerably with age; preschoolers transform
themselves  into archetypes like princess/mom and superhero/dad no matter
what props they use and are relatively fluid about gender roles and what is
real and what is make believe.  Older children insist on authenticity - and
the games can be highly structured if there's a social group and enough time
to negotiate a script.  Since this is rare in children's museums, older kids
generally try stuff on and fling it off before charging on to the next area -
 unless there's a structured activity (read grownup making them pay attention
and stay in one place.)   And, of course, parents like to take their pictures
in costumes - a fine family activity.

Practicalities:  Don't forget to design in large mirrors and adequate space
for kid scale hanging and storage as well as full size photos of people
wearing the duds on the job.

During my tenure at the Los Angeles Children's Museum we had (and they
continue to have) a variety of areas for dress-up.  The genuine firefighters'
jackets and hats were a particular hit.  Real stuff is great when you can get
it small enough, though child sized (in a wide variety of sizes) replicas and
generic items like belts, scarves, skirts, badges, etc. work well too.  There
are always concerns about head lice and other kid cooties from some teachers
and parents; it's important to launder frequently and swab the hats down with
disinfectant from time to time.

Mary Worthington
Museum Consultant



On Wed, 21 Feb 1996, Musynergy wrote:

> I'm designing an exhibit on bridges for a new children's museum. They want
> to provide clothing and accessories used by engineers and construction
> workers for kids to wear while building bridges with small and large scale
> manipulatives.
>
> What has been your experience providing this kind of role playing material
> for kids in primary and intermediate grades?
>
> How much use does it get relative to other activities?
>
> What tips do you have for making this kind of imaginary play more
> meaningful?