Toddler Dress Up Clothes: Top Rated for 2021

Pretend play toys and dress up encourage children to use their imagination. Costumes facilitate children to take on new roles as a doctor, or a princess, or a superhero, or a king of the volcano lands. Dressing up in costumes gives children an outlet to use their imaginations, gain confidence, build social skills, as well as other skills. I believe that nurturing creativity in children will help them live an inspired life. In this article, we share a variety of top-rated pretend play dress-up costumes that encourage children to use their imaginations. Read on to see our favorite toddler dress–up costumes, divided into four different categories: career, princess, superhero, and open-ended.

2020 Update: In an effort to share only the highest-rated children’s costumes, we have reviewed the items shared in this post on January 27 2020 to make sure we are sharing only the highest-rated pretend play costumes and gear with you. We added a few new items as well.

Note: This post contains affiliate links. This means that I may receive affiliate fees when items are purchased through the links below. Note that this does change the price. See my disclosure page for details.

Click the links below to jump to the dress up costume style you are most interested in. Keep in mind that every costume we share can be purchased on Amazon. View it there to see sizing and color options as well as the current price by clicking ‘View Price’ below the items. All of the items we share are top rated dress up costumes for toddlers and little kids.

1. Career Based Costumes. The first category of pretend play costumes are Career Based Costumes. This includes everything from an astronaut to a veterinarian to a fire chief. Every costume is in this section is a Melissa and Doug pretend play set, and for good reason – Melissa and Doug make some fantastic career costumes for kids!
2. Princess Dress Up Clothes. The second section shares a variety of princess dress up sets for little girls who want to dress up like princesses. It also includes a  pretend play dress up shoe set and a collapsable Disney princess toddler dress-up trunk for storage.
3. Superhero Costumes. The third category of dress-up ideas for kids is for superhero pretend play. It includes a variety of costumes made by different companies, and also includes one that can be personalized!
4. Open-Ended Dress Up Clothes. The fourth and final category of pretend play ideas for kids is a more open-ended pretend play, which may be best. Oftentimes, princess and superhero tastes change quickly, which is why the open-ended pretend play items might have a longer life of play.

Many of the children’s costumes listed below come in a variety of sizes. Click on the ‘view price link to see the size options, ratings, and more on the items listing on Amazon.

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1. Career Based Costumes by Melissa and Doug

Melissa and Doug does such a fantastic job with their role play dress up kits, that we decided to stick with them for all of the career based dress up outfits we share. The main reason for this is that these costumes, although different, still go together, and can make a set. We think that these Melissa and Doug Dress-Up Sets could be collected to make a full, pretend play career based play wardrobe*. The majority of their dress-up sets will fit toddlers and young children ages 3-6 years old best. Click on the link under a costume to learn more about what comes in the set.

*I got this idea from my mom, who has gifted these pretend play costumes to my nephews over the years. They now have a bunch of different Melissa & Doug pretend play costumes hanging in their playroom – they love to dress up!

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2. Princess Dress Up Clothes

Everyone likes to dress up, especially little girls pretending to be princesses (I mean, they DO have the best outfits, am I right?! So, we have scoured the interwebs for the absolute highest-quality princess dress up clothes, pretend play dress up shoes, and also found a cute, princess themed toddler dress-up trunk. See our top picks for princess dress-up ideas below!

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3. Superhero Costumes

Superheros are maybe the ultimate pretend play costume (in my opinion). I still ask my husband what his superpower would be if he had one, probably on a monthly basis. Haha! My favorite in this superhero costume series is probably the first one – I recently got this for my nephew in ‘C’ (his name is Connor) and he loved it! It comes in every letter in the alphabet, so you can get it with your little one’s first initial. I also love the idea of having a superhero themed birthday party and giving each child a superhero costume to wear and take home!

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4. Open-Ended Dress Up Clothes

All of the open-ended pretend play items listed in this section are by Sarah’s Silks. Sarah’s Silks is a family owned family that creates Waldorf style toys for little ones.

Pretend Play Storage and Trunks

You will probably need a way to store all of you little one’s costumes and pretend play accessories. There are many different ways to do so. I have seen people use the costumes themselves as playroom decor, with simple hooks along the wall to hang the costume sets up. Others use costume trunks, and some people get pretend play costume organizers that are mini armoire closets. Below are a couple different options for storing dress up costumes.

What Ages are Best for Gifting Pretend Play Toys and Costumes?

Pretend play costumes and toys make great gifts for children of many ages. The majority of items shared in this blog are most fitting for children ages 3-7 years old. Tip: Be sure to check sizing before ordering, costume sizes sometimes differ from regular clothing sizes. Reading the reviews for each item can often help when choosing the right size for your little one.

More Pretend Play Toys

If you want to browse more pretend play toy ideas, check out the Pretend Play Toys section of our shop – it includes some of the dress up costumes we share here, as well as related toys, like a travel-friendly superhero magnetic dolls set, Riverstones for pretending the floor is lava, tons of wooden pretend food toys, and more. Remember that many items listed in our shop include gift pairing ideas – making it easy to gift the little ones in your life thoughtful themed presents.

The right tools can help harness the power of creativity. Children already have a great imagination. Giving them props like dress up costumes helps them unleash their creativity by using their imaginations to act out scenes, either imaginary or inspired from things they have learned. In 2020, children view screens more than ever, watching shows and playing video games. It’s important that they have plenty of non-screen, interactive playtime like these pretend play dress-up clothes encourage. Open-ended imaginative play is so important for young children, which is why children’s costumes make such great gifts for little ones.

Thank you for reading! <3 Check out other recent blog posts through the links listed below if you’d like to read more.

• Top 12 Tummy Time Toys by a New Mom
• Toddler Dress Up Clothes: Top Rated for 2021
• 9 Pregnancy Books: Reviewed by a First Time Mom
• My Pregnancy First Trimester Recap
• 20 Children’s Books About Love

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