Does your child like to pretend in a world that exists in their own imagination?
The Dress Up Theatre, right outside “Maddy’s Theatre,” offers a chance to wear a costume and pretend as you first enter the building, when you leave, while family members play on the climber, or while one is waiting to see a play.
The Dress Up Theatre invites visitors to imagine themselves as characters in a story. They can re-enact a story they know already or just learned. This storytelling play engages early building blocks of literacy-- beginning, middle and end. They can role-play the emotional reality of the character as if it’s really happening, change the story to make their own ending, or tell a whole different story entirely. Children have the opportunity to experience live theatre, and then re-enact what they have seen as they step out of the theatre. Dramatic Play is a tool to help children develop crucial emotional regulation skills that make learning and socialization possible.
Where?
First Floor
Dress Up Theatre
• The Dress Up Theatre Stage is accessible by a ramp or small step up;
• Dress up costumes and props range in size.
Dress Up Theatre
Pick a role and play it!
Dress Up Theatre was made possible by a generous gift from Kate and Ian Malin
Is Dress Up Theatre “Real Theatre”? And why we should all celebrate dramatic play
Does your child like to pretend? Really get lost in a world that exists in their own imagination? There’s dinosaur pets and talking ants, cats that decorate apartments, witches and knights? Any of those things? Somehow they all relate together, or maybe they don’t and that’s where the tension is? And-- just when it starts to make sense, the whole world is dropped and the game is forgotten because someone new entered the room or dinner is ready? Congratulations. You have a child with an active imagination!
Dramatic play helps children process the difference between what is real and what is not real. They decide the story, and they decide the rules. They maintain the boundary between truth and fantasy. When children pretend they activate a whole constellation, including: imagination, language, awareness, concentration, initiative, and capacity towards social interaction. At the Museum & Theatre we are meeting children at all developmental stages and ages extending invitations to practice the critical skill of dramatic play.