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Daily Routines: Bath Time

Brooke Wiegand

WE MAKE IT EASY FOR PARENTS TO IDENTIFY TEACHABLE MOMENTS FOR COMMUNICATION AND LIFE SKILLS.

Welcome to ETP’s daily routine series! How do we add play or language into the mix when it feels like “another thing to do”? Whether it’s time, motivation, or just not knowing where to start, we want to help you troubleshoot!

Grab your notebook and join us every Monday as we share a parent-tip blog post. We’re excited to show you exactly how you can utilize your daily routines (something you already do) to expand your child’s language skills. 

This is part four (and the last for now) of our daily routine series: Bath time!

4 no-prep bath time learning activities for toddlers

Bath time. It gets our little ones clean. It can be the perfect “restart” on a hard day. It’s an opportunity to reconnect with your child after a long day. Whatever bath time looks like for your family, we want to walk you through a few intentional activities you can try to help your child’s communication and language skills.

  1. BODY PARTS

    If you have a younger toddler, this is a good time to work on naming basic body parts as you wash them. “Let’s wash your nose.” “Can you find your knee? Let’s wash it.” 

    If your toddler is older, introduce advanced body parts like wrist, elbow, ankle. You can also talk about what each body part can do. “Our ears help us hear.”

  2. SEQUENCE

    Talk out loud about what needs to happen first, next/then, last. Let your little one fill in a blank for what’s next. 

    First, we close the drain. Then we ___ Turn on the water! Next, we wait for the tub to fill up. Then we take a bath. Last, we let the water drain out.

  3. DESCRIBE

    Give details about what you are doing and the things around you. There are so many vocabulary words that are specific to taking a bath and the bathroom that your little one can learn from you!

    I’m turning on the bathtub faucet. The water is too hot, I want it to be warm. There’s only a little bit of water in the bathtub. We need more. The bathtub is full. Wow, there’s lots of ocean animal bath toys!

  4. REPETITION

    We learn with repetition. By using the same familiar language/vocabulary, we can help build and reinforce your child’s understanding of the routine. Repeat the vocabulary. Repeat the sequence of steps.

BONUS: Try something new! Make bath time fun for everyone by turning on this playlist! Read a book to calm. Sing a song to smile. The choice is yours!

Vocabulary & Concepts

Bathtime can be a learning experience. We want to help you recognize all of the opportunities using foundational vocabulary and basic concepts. The language that we use in daily routines often carry over into other daily interactions as well as early academic skills.

VOCABULARY TO USE DURING BATH TIME

Here’s a vocabulary list to get you started. Add any others that may be unique to your family or child. 

  • Nouns: water, bathtub, faucet, bubbles, soap, shampoo/conditioner, washcloth, towel, specific bath toys, body parts, pajamas, underwear/diaper

  • Verbs: wash, scrub, squeeze, pour, dump, splash, dry

  • Descriptors: clean, dirty, soapy, cold, hot, wet, dry, bubbly slippery 

BASIC CONCEPTS TO USE DURING BATH TIME

Basic concepts are the words that children need to understand in order to participate in everyday tasks, follow directions, and engage in conversation. Below are 10 basic concepts and examples of how to incorporate them while giving your child a bath. 

Use our basic concept checklist in the Play by Play to keep track of the concepts your child has mastered and the concepts you will introduce to them next!

  1. IN/OUT: getting in and out of the bathtub; putting bath toys in and out of the bathtub 

  2. ON/OFF: turning the lights or faucet on/off

  3. HOT/COLD: discussing the water temperature

  4. OPEN/CLOSE: when getting any bath items out of cabinets/drawers; open/close bath products

  5. WET/DRY: describe when getting out of the bath; you’re wet, let’s dry off

  6. EMPTY/FULL: the tub is empty, now it’s full of water

  7. DIRTY/CLEAN: tell why you take a bath; after a long day, we take a bath to get clean.

  8. TIRED: discuss that it’s almost bedtime and you might be feeling tired

  9. FIRST/LAST: sequence the steps of bathtime; First we wash your face, last we wash your feet

  10. BEFORE/AFTER: Before you wash your face, put soap on the wet washcloth

GET A GAME PLAN

We love following a simple framework to be productive without too much fuss. Try using what we call the 2-1-1. You're going to choose 2 concepts, 1 vocabulary or power word, and 1 strategy for the week. 

HERE’S WHAT THIS COULD LOOK LIKE:

2 Concepts: wet/dry

  • Take inventory of what toys you can use for these concepts. For example, use toy animals and give them a bath.

  • Consider your daily routine. Model the words wet/dry when washing/drying your hands or during bathtime.

1 Power Word: on

Model this verbally and/or with a gesture/sign when it is relevant like when you turn the water on, the lights on, etc.  

1 Strategy: Repetition. Give multiple opportunities for your child to hear, learn, & practice routines and the words that go along with them. 

Let’s pull it all together. This week, you’re going to focus on the concept pair “wet and dry” and the target word “on” You’re also going to focus on giving your child opportunities to practice these words — as you play with toys and during daily routines!

Looking for quick, doable strategies to increase your child’s language and life skills? Check out our brand new Play Day Challenge and learn 7 ways to make it happen!

If you’re ready to try out a play guide now, head to the shop and grab our signature ETP Play Guide.

See this gallery in the original post

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SOURCE:

Cheslock, M., & Kahn, S. (2011). Supporting families and caregivers in everyday routines. The ASHA Leader. https://doi.org/10.1044/leader.ftr1.16112011.10