Getting your child to dress up on their own offers numerous advantages for both you and your younger one. It's one less thing you'll have to worry about, especially once your child starts school and timeliness becomes important. It also allows your child to learn individual decision-making and be responsible, while still having fun.
Having said that, getting your child to listen to you can be easier said than done. Dressing aids in the development of a variety of abilities, including:
Fine motor skills: especially when it comes to zippers and lacing the shoes
Great motor skills: such as balancing on one leg and wearing socks
Cognitive skills: remembering the order of dressing, and being patient throughout the process
Language skills: learning different types of clothing and labeling them
The sense of time and occasion: when they learn what kind of clothing is suitable for the occasion or the weather.
How to Teach Children to Dress Properly
It takes a great deal of patience to teach your children to dress. We all know that It's stuffy to see a child put on shoes for five minutes, but it's important for them to learn how to do it. Here are a few pointers to help you with the trickier portions of dressing.
1. Choose Pants with Elastic Waistband
Choose loose-fitting pants with an elastic waistband. Until your child has mastered the art of wearing jeans, you can opt for sweatpants instead. You can further progress by making them try snap-on buttons or even a slide button. The conventional type of button is the last to master because it can be difficult.
2. Teach them that when getting dressed, take a seat
When wearing pants or other bottoms such as shoes and socks, this advice can be especially handy. Your toddler may thus concentrate just on putting on the pants and not on supporting himself while figuring out how to put them on, so it’s always better to sit down on a stool or a chair. This will help in maintaining the balance.
3. Tuck Arms Into Sleeves
Encourage your child to go through the sleeves with his arms. This is one of the most straightforward measures to help them learn to dress and make sure to cheer them up in the end, it will increase your child's self-esteem.
4. Encouragement to Button
You may be wondering how to teach a child to button his/her shirt. You should urge older children to button their own shirts. While there may be a few mismatched buttons at first, the payoff is well worth the effort.
5. Arrange the Clothes
It's important not to overwhelm your toddler with too many options at first. Select and then lay out their options. You can also arrange them in the sequence in which he must dress, this will definitely broaden their creative space.
6. Help them recognize the difference between front and back
Teach the child how to identify between the front and rear of clothes by recognizing the telltale signals. Make a point of pointing out that a dress's tag is always on the back and that buttons are normally on the front.
7. Begin by removing what you can
It is far easier to take off garments than it is to put them on, and your youngster will appreciate this. In most circumstances, your child will be dressed according to a schedule. Schedules are frequently more relaxed when removing clothing, such as around bath time or bedtime.
8. Comfortable Shoes
Wearing shoes is a crucial part of teaching toddlers how to dress. Begin with shoes that are simple to put on, such as stretchy slip-ons. Show your youngster how to put on shoes by putting the toes in first, then the heel. Encourage him to give it a shot on his own.
9. Shirts that are simple to put on and take off
If the prospect of getting your child's head through a t-shirt hole scares both you and your child, start with easy-to-wear clothing. Look for shirts with velcro or stick-on panels instead of buttons.
