Author: Gauri Kshirsagar
The TWO THINGS which I buy for the twins, without giving much thought are: BOOKS AND COSTUMES. My twins love to play dress-up. They have a set of costume bins full of all kinds of sparkly dresses, scarves, satin gloves, tiaras, superhero costumes, jewellery and masks. They love playing together and getting all dress up and get lost in their own little world of mermaids, princesses, powerful woman and supergirls.
As it turns out, dress-up can be one of the best things kids can do to learn some of life’s greatest skills like empathy, negotiating, and perseverance. “Trying on other mindsets and character traits lets the pretender experience feelings that might not experience otherwise,” Golani (Former K-12 teacher, author, and counselor Yocheved Golani) o says. “Inhibitions disappear when you’re being someone else. That leads to new behaviors and insights which can be helpful for the rest of the pretender’s life.” Golani also mentions a phenomenon called The Batman Effect which, according to an article in Psychology Today, states that “telling your child to pretend to be Batman, Dora the Explorer, Bob the Builder, or another hardworking character could increase her ability to persevere.”
But with this comes an immense task of taking care of these costumes and accessories. Our apartment came with this itsy bitsy closet in the kids’ shared room and the one in their toy room is already occupied by their school books. I have been able to teach them to put their folded clothes away in their dresser drawers, but sometimes some of the dresses can’t be folded properly and are usually left for me to hang since they still can’t reach the rod in the closet. I have always loved the look of clothing racks, but they can be costly, so I decided to try out a PVC pipe version. It’s a great way to add more clothing storage and put things within arm’s reach so my twins can put their hanging clothes away themselves! This can easily be added to a play room and filled with costumes to help keep a dress-up space organised.
MATERIALS YOU WILL NEED
- 3 End Caps
- 2 “L” joints
- 7 “T joints
- 2 pieces of PVC that are 43 and 1/2 inches long
- 2 pieces of PVC that are 29 inches long
- 1 pieces of PVC that are 25 inches long
- 2 pieces that are 14 inches long
- 2 pieces of PVC 10 inches long
- 2 pieces of PVC that is 1 and 1/2 inches long
- 2 pieces of PVC that are 3 inches long
- *All the PVC pipe I used was 1 inch pipe
THIS IS THE WAY EVERYTHING GOES
FOR THE DECORATING THE RACK YOU WILL NEED:
CHECK OUT THIS FULL VIDEO ON HOW TO MAKE THE EASY RACK:
THIS IS HOW IT LOOKS AFTER IT’S FINISHED:
Here’s a list of recommended items to include in your child’s dress-up rack:
- Play Silks can become capes, veils, a pirate’s head band, a belt, or a baby blanket.
- An elastic waist Fairy Skirt can become a fancy dress or a veil when worn on the head.
- Our knight’s Sword Holder Belt can hold a wooden toy sword or a tool like a hammer.
- Sunglasses, long gloves, strands of beads, and headbands add glamour.
- Hats of all kinds– a cowboy hat, a fedora, a Robin Hood hat, a tall cone-shaped princess hat.
- A chef’s hat and child-sized apron.
- A doctor’s scrubs, and face mask.
- Costumes of their favourite superheroes
Note: While this piece works as a great storage option, it’s not strong enough for kids to climb and hang on. Be sure to have a chat with your kids about using it appropriately so they can stay safe.
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Raising Twins™ 