update from Jessica
AJ- 24 months:
My sweet AJ and messes are the best of friends. He loves all sensory play, getting dirty outside and is a messy eater. This combined with the relaxation baths provide have led us to (almost) nightly baths, other than an occasional night we just put him right to bed.
AJ loves baths! My husband usually gives him his bath now that the baby is here. They listen to music, make silly faces, play with these Mr. Bubbles foaming bubbles and of course, play sharks. It has become pretty routine for AJ and although it’s a fun, playful time, it still relaxes him and gets him in the bedtime mindset.
We really do not struggle with getting him to take a bath. We have started to encourage him to undress independently and dry off with the towel independently. Sometimes he struggles with bath time being over. To combat this, we try to give him warnings (one at 5 minutes and another at 1 minute left) before it’s time to “say bye to the water” (AKA hit the drain!).
Since this is part of our nightly routine and AJ enjoys it so much, there are so many ways we have been able to incorporate learning into bath time:
- Counting- the simplest activity to embed into bath time! You can count rubber duckies, sharks…whatever you’ve got! We model the counting for him right now but he is starting to be able to count along with us.
- Fine motor- AJ is able to practice fine motor skills such as drawing and writing with the Mr. Bubbles foaming bubbles and bath crayons. These are 100% his favorite bath “toys”. They aren’t too bad of a clean up either!
- Pretend Play- he loves his shark family finger puppets! My husband and AJ can act out different characters or sing the baby shark song.
- Literacy- we still love bath books! Waterproof books and foam ABC letters are a great way to incorporate literacy into bath time.
- Hand-eye coordination- we have a small bath basketball hoop suction cupped to the wall with balls and a fishing toy by Munchkin that help facilitate development of this skill! Practice without him even realizing it!
Bath time is usually well tolerated and calming— so provide opportunities for learning chances and make the most out of these teachable moments!
AN UPDATE FROM JANELLE
EMMY- 29 MONTHS:
Bath time is always a good time in our house. Emmy really enjoys taking baths, as this is usually a time she spends with her dad. They love being silly together when playing with the water, and it’s so special to watch them bond.
She occasionally has some difficulty getting out of the bath, as she doesn’t love to brush or dry her hair and she knows the dreaded bedtime is coming. When these anxieties arise, we often prepare her for what’s going to come next. We have found success using simple first/then language to help with this (e.g., “ first dry hair, then read books”). Using a timer to signal the end of bath time has also helped on particularly difficult nights.
From learning body parts to learning sea animals, bathtime has provided ample learning opportunities for Emmy.
Children learn best when they’re playing and having fun, so bathtime is the perfect time to facilitate learning! Here are a few ways we incorporate learning during baths at our house:
- Pretend Play-One of our favorite bath time toys (that isn’t made for the bath) are realistic animal figurines. Emmy and her dad love to pretend they are the different animals and act out different scenes together.
- Body Parts-Emmy learned all of her body parts during bath time. We talk about which body parts she’s washing, and even have her baby doll join the party so she can practice washing them too. A little tip, start with simple body parts (feet, arms, belly) and later on start working on more advanced body parts (knees, elbows, shoulders).
- Prepositions-The bath is a perfect place to learn prepositions. We put toys under the water, put boats on the water, put bubbles in our hair and more!
Here are a few of Emmy’s favorite bath toys at two years:
- Water Gears
- Building Bath Pipes
- Stacking Boats
- Realistic Sea Creatures – These aren’t *technically* a bath toy, but they are hands down her favorite thing to play with in the bath.
UBAM BOOKS THAT TEACH
How to Bathe Your Little Dinosaur: This durable board book features a dirty little dinosaur who doesn’t like to wash. It’s vibrant illustrations and rhyming text will have your child engaged throughout!
Giraffe in the Bath: This book is about a giraffe who desperately needs a bath. It features simple rhyming text and phonic repetition to help develop early reading skills.
-ORIGINAL POST BELOW-
Welcome back! We’re excited to bring you the next post in the series “Developing Daily.” For those of you that are new here, Developing Daily is a series that I’ve worked on in collaboration with Janelle Ritchie of The Play Effect. Our hope is empower you to support your child’s development through everyday tasks.
This week we’re talking all about bath time!
Janelle Ritchie is a certified pediatric speech-language pathologist at a private practice in Michigan. She has a sweet daughter named Emmy, who just turned 1. She is passionate about working with toddlers first learning to talk as well as the effect play can have on speech & language development.
You can find Janelle on her blog The Play Effect or on Instagram @the_play_effect.
Did you know that your child is perfecting many important skills while bathing? Here are some ideas on how to support your child’s development during bath time:
HOW TO SUPPORT social-emotional SKILLS DURING BATH TIME:
Develop your child’s sense of responsibility by encouraging them to help with clean up by putting their bath toys back into a bin or basket.
If your child bathes with a sibling, the bath is a perfect place to work on turn-taking and sharing. Have your children take turns washing or rinsing. Practice sharing the soap or different bath toys.
How to support language skills during bath time:
Work on your child’s vocabulary. Here are some vocabulary words that are perfect to work on during bath time:
- Body parts: belly, face, feet, arms, etc.
- Bathroom vocabulary: sink, bathtub, toothbrush, soap, potty, etc.
- Action words: wash, rinse, splash, scrub, brush, dry, etc.
Sing songs during bath time! Songs are great for building vocabulary, connection and auditory memory skills. One of our favorite bath time activities is singing “5 Little Ducks” and pairing it with yellow rubber ducks! See the song below!
Build understanding of basic concepts like on/off and hot/cold. Talk about turning the water on and off or how the water is hot and cold.
Teach your child sequential language (first, then, next, last). Talk about the steps it takes to take a bath using transition words (First, we turn on the water and fill up the bathtub. Then you get in the water and wash your body. Last you dry off). Encourage your child to tell you the steps back!
How to support cognitive skills during bath time:
There are so many fun bath toys available! Practice matching, sorting, counting and even letter identification with bath toys.
How to support fine motor skills during bath time:
Bring your stacking toys into the bathtub or grab a ball and net toy for your bathtub to work on hand-eye coordination.
How to support play skills during bath time:
Bath time can be the perfect time for your child to develop their imagination. Pretend play schemes are endless in the bathtub. Grab some boats and pretend they’re sailing across the ocean. Go fishing for sea creatures. Take people on a pirate adventure. The possibilities are endless.
What do I do if my child has difficulty during bath time? Here are a few troubleshooting tips:
- Provide choices. Allow them to choose what color washcloth they get to use, what bath toys they play with, or even what body parts to wash first.
- Give your child a role. Have them help turn on the water, add the soap, etc.
- If possible, change up the location of where you’re giving the bath. Try the sink, tub, shower, etc.
I have linked my son’s favorite bath toys below. We received these as a gift when he was born. I love that they can be used in or out of the tub!
What else can you do to support your child’s bathing skills?
Read books about bath time! We love these books for this purpose:
- Bathtime by Sandra Boynton
- Tubby by Leslie Patricelli
- Splish, Splash, Baby by Karen Katz
Bring water proof books and toys into the bath time! We linked some of our favorites below:
Janelle’s Favorite Bath Time Products:
Jessica’s Favorite Bath Time Products:
Do you have a favorite bath time toy? We would love to know what it is! Feel free to tell us in the comments below!
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