Many of us send our children to nursery or playgroup at some point before they start school. As much as we are the first educators of our children, and we teach them new things everyday, a nursery or playgroup can be hugely beneficial. Even if they only attend for a couple of hours a few times a week, much can be gained from this experience.

At a playgroup or nursery school your child will have a much wider variety of play equipment than you can provide at home. They will have to learn how to share toys and take turns which is all character building and really important.

The development of social skills is a huge advantage of a setting like this, as your child will be able to mix with children of a similar age. They will sing songs together and follow a routine alongside the rest of the children, which is great preparation for school.

As well as increasing your child’s independence and confidence and developing friendships with other children, your child will have the chance to make relationships with other adults. This will help them learn that other people as well as their parents can be trusted and liked.

It also means that by the time they reach school, they are already used to being dropped off, spending some time without you, and being collected again.

So what do you dress your little darlings in for their time at nursery or playgroup?

Over the last 11 years of being a parent I’ve seen so many parents dress their children for playgroup or nursery in expensive designer clothing and then complain when it gets mud, paint or food on. I’ve heard parents tell staff not to let their children play with certain things so they don’t ruin their clothes. Seriously????? Come on people, buy them a few things from your favourite supermarket and let them get stuck in!

Nursery and playgroup can be messy. Scrap that. Nursery and playgroup are messy, but that’s kind of the point. There are tons of parents out there who can’t bare messy play at home. Parents who don’t get the paints and chalks out, parents who don’t go on muddy adventures, parents who just can’t bare mess on any level and avoid it at all costs.

That’s OK.

With that in mind though, nursery and playgroup settings are ideal places to let children do all of those things. The only thing you will have to wash is what your child is wearing.

All the major supermarkets these days have tons of children’s clothes at superb prices. These are ideal things to dress your little ones in for nursery or playgroup. They will still look great, but if something gets ruined it’s not the end of the world.

When you can buy three long-sleeved t-shirts from F&F at Tesco for £6, cuffed joggers for £7, or a pair of jeans for £5, you really can’t go wrong. You can even pick up a hoodie for £8.

The price of the children’s clothing from places like Tesco means if you have to throw something away it won’t matter too much, however, the reality is that most of the time, despite their price, these things wear and wash over and over again. You absolutely get your monies worth.