Let us keep a few things in mind when dressing kids for Civil War reenactments.
Boys wore pants and knickers upon being potty trained in the 1860's. But in today’s day of modern amenities, it is hard not to put our little boys into pants when it is cold, rainy or just way too buggy. When putting them into their little dresses, and wearing diapers, please make sure they have some sort of pantalets on to hide any modern diaper. Spectators and reenactors see this right away and will comment on modern diapers.
Our younger gentlemen can be outfitted very easily by acquiring dress pants and a dress shirt, preferably in cotton, from Goodwill and either making a simple vest or buying one and away he goes. Black dress shoes are adequate for footwear, and although boys of all ages tended to wear either heavy wool socks or stockings, white cotton socks will pass just fine for our little men. And although most pants of the time were button fly, it is very hard for children under the age of 6 to have to work those buttons. Go with a zipper for now and work them up to the button fly as they get older.
Little girls were often mirror images of their mothers, and will need a little extra care to dress, but a fine jumper style dress with trim on it will work. Patterns abound for both little girls and boys, put remember no zippers on the dresses. Little black shoes or ankle boots, without any kind of decoration or zippers, is fine footwear for little girls. Tights, as long as they don’t have very noticeable seams is great for leg wear. Or leave their legs bare in the summer time. Flannel pantalets for the cooler events is highly recommended.
More and more little girls love to have their nails painted like mom, but again, please keep the color off at events. People do notice things like that. And for hair, use ribbons in conjunction with invisible rubber bands to put their hair up. Please stay away from the fun hair jewelry, like plastic hair barrettes and feathery clips, which can be used only after hours.
As for their precious little toys and fun things they can’t leave at home, make sure they are camouflaged during the day. Sippy cups should be either put away during the day, or placed into canvas bags with draw strings. Bottles as well, should be concealed during open hours of any event. And it’s very easy to hide these things where people will not notice them. Bouncy chairs can be concealed with slip covers or a good blanket wrapped around them. Wooden playpens are perfect for keeping little ones safe from the fire and all the activity of the day.
Toys should be time appropriate, wood being a good choice. Although there are plenty of kids that play with the plastic sutler toys this seems to be fine. Most people do not worry too much about the kids toys, but will comment on very modern looking toys for sure. So keep Barbie and GI Joe locked away for the day. Stuffed animals as well were not as they are today, and should be kept hidden for nap time and bed.