Young children love to dress up in costumes and play pretending games. They also love being read stories. So could these activities be used to increase language skills?
This is the question Dr Sherry Haar and Dr Linda Crowe from Kansas State University asked recently. Dr Haar had been developing costumes to assist with occupational therapy, and Dr Crowe had been involved in literacy development. They decided to combine their skills to see if research would support the role of costume as a prop to promote literacy development.
'Our hypothesis was that the children would use the costume as a memory aid for retelling the story, by wearing the costume and re-enacting the story events (assuming character roles),' says Dr Crowe. 'We assumed the children would wear the costume during retelling and attempt to re-enact the story, using character voice, etc.
Register now to continue reading
Thank you for visiting Nursery World and making use of our archive of more than 35,000 expert features, subject guides, case studies and policy updates. Why not register today and enjoy the following great benefits:
What's included
-
Free access to 4 subscriber-only articles per month
-
Unlimited access to news and opinion
-
Email newsletter providing activity ideas, best practice and breaking news
Already have an account? Sign in here