short & SWEET : It’s Only Natural That Children Get Comfy When Cotton Cuties Come Out to Play

Sunflowers and pansies, ladybugs and butterflies, wild animals and dinosaurs--when it comes to children’s clothes, it’s a jungle out there.

Summer is the season for fun prints on kids’ play clothes.

It’s the time when children can do what they want, whether it’s going to the beach or playing POG, the bottle cap game, by the hour. They can also wear what they want. For kids in Orange County, that means donning shorts, sun dresses, rompers, T-shirts and other clothes that are comfortable, colorful and festooned with eye-catching graphics.

Kids like all-cotton or soft rayon fabrics printed with everything from tiny ladybugs to the giant inhabitants of “Jurassic Park.” This summer, kids can have their pick of prints motifs: gingham, stripes, florals, beetles, gardening tools, seed packets, animals, sports, cowboys, cows and coffee cups.

“If they see dinosaurs in a book, they want dinosaurs on their clothes,” says Kelly Wilson, co-owner and designer of Hide-n-Seek Reversibles, a children’s clothing manufacturer in Costa Mesa.

“Colors and graphics appeal to kids,” Wilson says. She and partner Christine Giannulli seek out all-cotton fabrics with quirky prints that aren’t necessarily designed for children’s clothes. They created one dress for girls printed with coffee cups and the words “espresso,” “cafe latte” and other java terminology.

“It appealed to the mothers as much as the children,” Wilson says.

Dads like the golf and fly-fishing prints featured on the boys’ shorts and pullover hooded tops.

“We use a lot of theme prints you usually don’t see for small boys--airplanes, sports, surfing, animals,” says Wilson, who began making shorts for her 3-year-old son.

Many pieces in their line are reversible, such as shorts with a cow-jumps-over-the-moon print on one side and the word “moo” scribbled all over the other. Hide-n-Seek collections run from size 6 months to 6X and can be found at the Red Balloon in Fashion Island Newport Beach, Small Things Bright & Beautiful in Dana Point, Chelsea’s Castle in Mission Viejo and Lucy Max in Laguna Beach.

Among the styles by Hide-n-Seek at Lucy Max: a girl’s jumper ($42) and unisex shorts ($26) printed with old-fashioned seed packets and a boys’ reversible shorts in a navy bandanna print one one side and checks on the other or a blue Hawaiian print and matching gingham combination ($26).

“Children really go for prints,” says Bernadette Kelly-Whelan, owner of Lucy Max.

Kelly-Whelan designs clothes for her Lucy Max line, which sells at her store and 40 other retailers around the country. She uses whatever fabrics happen to catch her eye, staying away from cutesy materials made for kids.

“Sometimes we pick up odds and ends and just make a small collection,” she says.

For summer, there’s a sun dress or trapeze top and bloomers for girls with a detailed print of garden tools in deep fuchsia, teal and green tones ($29). She used a vintage-looking cowboy print to make a boys’ romper ($28).

She also favors prairie prints, such as sun dresses and jumpers in tiny pin-stripes, small florals or the gray and white gingham she used to make a girl’s romper ($29). Such styles look like they were designed for farmers’ daughters.

Ladybugs, pansies, sunflowers, watermelons--these are just a few of the popular summer prints used for children’s play clothes at the Toddling Turtle in Laguna Niguel.

Among the hits of summer: girls’ knit bicycle shorts by Anita G. of Newport Beach in a hot pink, orange and yellow tropical print with fish and palm trees ($15), and boys’ coordinating shorts and T-shirts in assorted beach prints (about $16 to $23).

“Kids live in shorts and T-shirts in the summer,” says Pamela Haydon, store co-owner.

No matter how pleasing the print, kids won’t wear something that’s not comfortable--especially in summer.

“They like things over-sized,” says Susan Hoffman, owner of Balboa Island Kids Clothing Co. “And they won’t wear anything that’s itchy.”

She carries sun dresses, shorts and tops that are loose-fitting and made of woven cotton and cotton knits, some printed with true-to-nature flowers and gingham checks. One line, by Fitigues, features thermal sweat pants, T-shirts, shorts, rompers and other cotton separates for boys and girls in muted hues such as white, oatmeal, celery, navy and black ($20-$50).

“There’s nothing hard; everything’s soft,” says Kay Howard, co-owner of Little People & Me in Newport Beach.

This summer, girls will wear palazzos, broomstick skirts and lightweight shifts and bike shorts, inspired by clothes their mothers wear, while boys will don shorts and T-shirts. Bright tropical prints and florals are especially hot for the summer months, Howard says.

“It’s fun and games until back to school,” she says.