Jump start your smallest customers imaginations with Dress Up! Place a few costumes in a section of your library and the kids will do the rest.
You can purchase costumes from a supplier like Lakeshore Learning, have a volunteer make them, hunt for leftover Halloween costumes or through thrift stores. At my branch, we have a Firefighter, Pilot, Mail Carrier, Police Officer and a Doctor–complete with hats and all.
I think I just heard a collective groan when I mentioned that we put hats out for kids to wear! They are plastic hats and we have bleach spay nearby for germ conscientious caregivers. We also spray the costumes and hats each night at closing with bleach spray (1 gallon water to 1 tablespoon bleach- will kill anything yucky and will not bleach the material). The costumes get laundered monthly as well.
I have seen these costumes used in a variety of ways. Often kids and parents will go to the stacks together in search of a book about the costume they are wearing. Other times they will engage in play with other kids in the area who are also dressed up. One day a little girl had on the Doctor coat and the Mail Carrier hat when a little boy walked up to her and said, “Oh! You’re a Mail Doctor, in case anyone gets hurt by their mail.” What imagination!
Take a chance on dress up in your branch and you won’t be disappointed.
Any thoughts on a Librarian Costume?