Boys Dress Up – Because Role Play Fun Isn’t Just For Girls!

Knight Costume

Little boys usually love dressing up just as much as little girls do! There are just as many options out there too… they just don’t look as “pink or frilly”.

Here are a few of the different costume themes you as a parent or friend can explore in order to encourage your little man to have some fun stretching his imagination with dress up.

When I Grow Up…

There are a few popular dress up categories for little boys, but “when I grow up” is one of the ones as a mother I love. That I want to encourage.  I want my little guy to learn at an early age that it’s a GOOD thing to dream big. To explore options. To know that while it’d be wonderful if he follows in his father’s footsteps or does what his grandpa does when he grows up, that there are so many other fun things that he can do that might make him happy!  (See my “When I Grow Up” dress up page!)Fire Chief Costume

He can be a fire chief. A doctor or nurse, or a vet (popular in my house… all of our stuffed animals get pretty ill here rather often 😉 ). An airplane pilot. A construction worker. A chef. A farmer or cowboy. A priest or minister. A dentist or surgeon. The possibilities are endless!

So are the benefits. Other than job awareness, playing “when I grow up” or dressing up in “career outfits” also encourages the building of vocabulary, enhances problem solving, and builds the skills of cooperation as they imagine scenes working alongside the other children on the job scene.

Superheroes and Brand Characters

It seems like everywhere you look these days you see brand name stuff. A quick walk through your local Walmart makes it seem like your child really IS different if he doesn’t have everything in his room (life) covered with Minion or Batman or Paw-Patrol or whoever is the favorite character of the moment.Batman Costume

So it is NO surprise, is it, that brand Superhero character costumes are popular ones for these little guys of ours. Superman, Batman, Spiderman, The Hulk… they are cool. And they are well known. Because, like I said, they are EVERYWHERE.

(Boys and their Superhero crushes are kind of like girls with their Disney Princesses… little girls don’t have to have watched the movies to know they love Elsa, Belle, and Cinderella.)

The superhero costumes are also great because well, which boy doesn’t want to wear a cape? And “fly” through the air or climb walls? Let’s be honest… when boys dress up as superheroes, they go a little bit crazy, don’t they? And they have a BLAST.

(If your boy like the thrills of Superhero play, he may also be interested in Adventure Themed Costumes For Boys.)

Knights and Royalty

Some parents don’t really encourage the Superhero costumes for their little guys, just like some parents don’t want their little girls inundated with Princess everything.  But the area of dress up as Knights and Kings can be a fun, manly type of dress up they DO want to encourage!

A boy dressed up as a knight or a king has a certain type of behavior to take on, you see? One that is kind, respectful, serious, good, and generous.

Knight WeaponsOne of the reasons little boys LOVE dressing up as Knights, Soldiers, Kings, Dukes, and Princess, is that costumes come with some fantastic armour! Find me a little boy who doesn’t want to have a fancy fake sword buckled around his waist, or a lance to wield, and I’ll be rather shocked.

And the fancy costumes they get to wear as Sir Kevin the Magnificent or King David the Wise, or Prince Aidan the Brave? They feel pretty important so nicely decked out!

Animal Kingdom

Animal Costumes

There are few little boys who don’t love to pretend they are lions or tigers. And your little boy probably does a great monkey impression, doesn’t he? Animal costumes are another great costume theme that little boys love.

Animal costumes can be as simple as a hat or a mask, or as warm and cuddly as a full animal zip-up costume. They can be a tail tied around the waist or a furry pair of bear feet.

The variety is astounding too… and there are possibilities for costumes for almost any animal your child can think of!


Kids Love Dress UpLittle boys dress up is a lot of fun. They play hard, they laugh hard, and their wonderful imaginations never stop running.

What does the little boy in YOUR life like best?  Which theme is most popular for him… or have I missed one? Let me know in the comments below… and feel free to send a picture of your little guy deep in play!

Cheers,

Marlaine

16 thoughts on “Boys Dress Up – Because Role Play Fun Isn’t Just For Girls!

  1. vivia September 9, 2016 at 8:38 pm

    Hi Marlaine,

    These are such cute ideas 🙂

    I have two girls, ages 2 & 3, and they absolutely love dressing up. For the older one’s birthday in a few weeks we are going to have a princess and prince party. Hopefully the boys won’t be disgruntled at having to be princes.
    My daughter’s best friend, Thomas, insists that he is going to wear his spider-man costume so at least he will be happy.

    Love and light,
    Vivia

    • Marlaine September 10, 2016 at 12:29 am

      Love the theme party idea! That sounds adorable! My guess is that if the boys get to have a scepter or princely (knightly) sword/weapon set, or an interesting cape, they might be a-ok with it! 🙂

      And having Spider-man in attendance will be just hilarious in photos! Especially looking back years from now! Might want to make sure Thomas’ mom somehow gets a pic of Spider-man surrounded by his royal friends LOL! Have fun, and thanks for the reply.

  2. Anh Nguyen September 11, 2016 at 3:43 am

    Marlaine,

    You got it. My two nephews love dressing up as their favourite character or some badass jobs like policeman and firefighter. One of them love the firefighter theme and their specialised trucks. 😛

    I don’t think you’ve missed anything in terms of cosplay theme. Well done and thanks for sharing!

    Cheers,
    Anh

    • Marlaine September 12, 2016 at 4:24 pm

      I can’t go ANYWHERE without my little guy pointed out firetrucks, police cars, and ambulances on the road! 🙂 Very much loved themes for dress up, absolutely!

  3. maya2016 September 13, 2016 at 3:34 pm

    Hey Marlaine, this is really great, everything about dressing up is perfect. We have a baby girl,she is 9 months and we are planning for her birthday and here I can find so many to buy and get more ideas. You didn’t miss anything.thanks for sharing:) good luck

    • Marlaine September 13, 2016 at 8:17 pm

      Thanks Maya, and congrats on your baby girl! You’re in for some wonderful years of imagination and fun! 🙂 I’m glad you enjoyed this site! Thanks for dropping by, and have a lovely day!

  4. Rachel September 25, 2016 at 1:45 pm

    Indeed, boys dress up too, they just don’t dress as princesses (I don’t think they even dress up as princes, lol). This is because they want to be superheroes and saviors of the world.

    I don’t get why (’cause all my siblings and similar age cousins are females) boys love such violent games for dress up. When we were younger and we weren’t asked to play certain games (or not to play certain games) we always played peaceful ones such as cooking, tea parties, or fun adventures (never fighting ones).

    However, I’ve seen little boys make-believe play turn into real fights……looks like I can never understand them, lol!

    • Marlaine September 26, 2016 at 4:46 pm

      Hi Rachel,

      Yes, boys and girls tend to play very differently, that’s for sure! Thankfully when they play together it often works out very well though – they tend to complement each other. I agree that dressing up as a prince isn’t often their go-to outfit choice… UNLESS it comes with a cool sword or special powers! THEN, it’s almost like they are a super-hero. 😉

      Thanks for dropping in! Have a lovely day.

  5. clark November 2, 2016 at 11:28 pm

    Hello Marlain,

    I am having so much fun reading your post. Me and my nephews usually play heroes and villains but I never thought of playing with a full costume though but I playing with a full set of costume will take it to the next level! Thinking about how our play time would be excites me on how it will turn out! thank you for this Marlaine.

    Cheers!,
    Clark

    • Marlaine November 3, 2016 at 1:26 pm

      Hey Clark, glad you enjoyed the post! Playing superhero and villain is definitely fun for little guys – especially if they have an older guy (Uncle like yourself, sounds like) running around with them. Good stuff! 🙂 — oh, and if you have any nieces, check out my post on Superhero Costumes for Girls – they shouldn’t be left out of the crime fighting game! 😉

  6. Teresa November 24, 2016 at 5:01 am

    We have that fire chief dress up outfit and my sons LOVE it. I think it’s made by Melissa and Doug and their toys are so well made. I think I’m going to pick up the doctor one next. We also purchased some swords and shields, but I was concerned that my sons might injure each other so I picked up some foam swords on Amazon. I love the armor you show, it looks really cool! Thanks for the ideas! 🙂

  7. Teresa November 24, 2016 at 5:01 am

    We have that fire chief dress up outfit and my sons LOVE it. I think it’s made by Melissa and Doug and their toys are so well made. I think I’m going to pick up the doctor one next. We also purchased some swords and shields, but I was concerned that my sons might injure each other so I picked up some foam swords on Amazon. I love the armor you show, it looks really cool! Thanks for the ideas! 🙂

    • Marlaine November 24, 2016 at 5:42 pm

      Glad you enjoyed this selection! My kids love to play dress up… the fire chief set AND the doctor set are both going to be Christmas gifts at our house this year! 🙂

    • Marlaine November 24, 2016 at 5:42 pm

      Glad you enjoyed this selection! My kids love to play dress up… the fire chief set AND the doctor set are both going to be Christmas gifts at our house this year! 🙂

  8. Michael March 8, 2017 at 6:29 am

    So I came up on you site. It’s very happy looking. So I stop and look around. When reading I was thinking, about when I was little. My mom would tell me to stop changing my clothes. Always dressings up. Those pictures are great. You got great content on this site. I’m going to recommend friends to come to this site.

    • Marlaine March 9, 2017 at 5:49 pm

      Thanks Michael. It’s great to have validation of the point of this article… that dress up play is NOT just for girls! I’m sure you as a little boy had a great imagination, playing dress up and more. I appreciate the comment, and glad you dropped by!

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