In our current culture, there seems to come a point in time in every little girl’s life where it is very difficult to resist the influence and the appeal of princesses. Darah’s interest started around 2 1/2, and by now (3 3/4) she is decidedly into all things pink, sparkly and royal. As a feminist, I certainly have some concerns and reservations about this interest, and find myself flinching when my daughter asks me if she is pretty like a princess. But ultimately, Tim and I both have decided to “lean in” to this season of life and let her have her princess fun, all while doing our part to showcase the positive attributes of the characters she seeks to emulate, and give very little attention to surficial beauty.

Darah is head-over-heels already for Ariel and Rapunzel, and her latest Disney princess interest is Belle from Beauty and the Beast. She recently received a Belle costume to play in, and I have been creating a Disney princess dress up game for her when she wears it. She loves nothing more to pretend that she is a princess, but I am working to expand her idea about what it means to be each character.

Disney princess dress up game: Belle

In the case of Belle, when she dresses up as her we do the following things:

1. Go to her library of books in her room and get SUPER excited about all the adventures waiting for her inside the pages. Belle was an avid fan of literature, so it is imperative that we READ if we are pretending to be her.

2. Seek out her stuffed animals that may not be as lovable looking at first glance. Eloi, Maggie, hippo and others are given special attention by Belle and are invited to tea parties. We talk about how wonderful each of her stuffed friends is, not because of how they look, but because of how kind they each are. Belle was not concerned with outward appearances, and that’s a trait of a princess that I would LOVE for Darah to emulate.

3. Have snowball fights. The character trait we learn about here is simple: a spirit of joy! Princesses need not be afraid of a little spontaneous fun (and quite frankly, that’s a lesson I still need to learn, myself).

To those of you out there with little girls who are into princesses, do you have any special Disney princess dress up games you play? Any tips for highlighting those positive character traits that can be found in every princess? 

I received a complimentary product for review purposes. All thoughts and opinions expressed here are strictly my own.