Getting dressed
Being able to get dressed without help from an adult is fantastic for developing your child’s independence.
Getting dressed by themselves is a skill that will develop over time.
In Reception class children may be asked to:
- Put their coat on and take their coat off.
- Change their school shoes for wellies or PE pumps.
- Pull clothing down and up when going to the toilet.
- Change into their PE kit and put their clothes in a neat pile.
Top Tip
Ways to help at home
Here are some things to try at home to help your little one learn to get dressed by themselves. Start with the activities in the boxes, then try more of the ideas below as your child’s confidence grows.
A bit at a time...
Asking your child what they need to put on next helps them to think logically about the order of getting dressed.
Start them off and allow them to finish. For example, put their jumper on over their head, then ask them to put their arms through.
Here is a useful link to chatting with your child whilst getting dressed.
Dressing up
Dressing up is a fun way to practise getting dressed. Start with scarves and hats and then move on to adult clothes that they can pull on and off more easily.
Have fun hats, accessories, materials to create outfits together. It allows the children to be creative, encouraging them to be whatever they want to be.
Where to start
- Practise the moves and actions needed to be able to get dressed by themselves by doing fun things like putting dress up items on and off, the sillier the better. Take a look at this video for inspiration – At-Home Activities to Practice Getting Dressed (youtube.com)
- Dressing up teddies and dolls can also be a fun way to learn about all the different movements and actions needed for getting dressed.
- Under table drawing – sticking paper to the underneath of a table and letting them draw laid on their backs is actually a really fun way of building up the skills and strength needed to figure out all those buttons and zips!
Things to try next
- A fun activity you can try that encourage children to practise using buttons and zips – cut slits through a heavy piece of cardboard and find a bunch of spare buttons or round game token and ask your little one to push each one through the slit to come out the other side. Once they have got the hang of it, make it a little competitive and see how fast they can get 5 or 10 through the slits.
- Next time its time to fold some laundry, ask them to help you with their clothes. Make a small pile of their clothes that are turned inside out and ask them to turn them the right way.
If you feel your child needs more support…
Start with these tips below.
- Use a tick list or a sequence strip of images that shows all the steps of getting dressed.
- You could try drawing an outline of their body with chalk outside, then make a game of placing the clothing items onto the right place of the body so they get used to where things go.
- Play a game of ‘Simon says’ but use it to get to know body parts like ‘rub your tummy’ or ‘stamp your feet’.
Songs
Top Tip
Books
- Why Should I Get Dressed? by Katie Daynes (Usborne Publishing Ltd, 2021)
This page is part of our Ready Steady School series, helping you and your little one get ready for school.
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