For moms of babies and toddlers, bath time is a great time to practice and expand upon language.
Describe your actions at bath time. Talk about turning the water on and making sure it is the right temperature.
“Let’s turn the water on. Turn the handle to turn on the faucet. We want to make sure the water is warm. We don’t want it too cold. We don’t want it too hot.”
Talk about turning the water off when the tub is full.
“We run the water to fill the tub. When the tub is full, we shut off the faucet.”
Talk about body parts as you wash each part using soap.
“We soap up the wash cloth and wash, wash, wash the right arm. Wash your shoulder. Wash your elbow. We wash the the thumb, and we wash the fingers. One, two, three, four fingers — and thumb.” Hold out the right arm as you wash, reinforcing the labeling of body parts and the ideas of right and left. Repeat for the left arm.
“Put more soap on the washcloth and wash the right leg. Wash the knee. Wash the ankle. We wash the the toes. One, two, three, four, five toes.” Elevate the right leg as you wash, reinforcing the labeling of body parts and the ideas of right and left. Repeat for the left leg.
Ask the child if they need more soap. Talk about the parts that are wet.
When you are all done, drain the tub. (Babies you can remove from the tub, toddlers can sit in the tub while the water drains out.)
“The tub was full of water and now the tub is empty.”
Dry each body part with the towel talking about which parts are dry.
“We dry your body. Rub, rub, rub and dry your tummy. Rub, rub, rub and dry your back. We pop the towel over your head and dry your hair, and dry your face. Rub, rub, rub we dry your right arm. Rub, rub, rub we dry your left arm. Let’s rub our hands together in the towel to dry your hands. Rub, rub, rub we dry your right leg. Rub, rub, rub we dry your left leg. Let’s rub our feet together in the towel to dry your feet.”
When completely done, talk about the steps that occurred in order.
“First, we turned on the water to fill the tub.”
“When the tub was full, we turned off the water.”
“Then you climbed into the tub and we washed up.”
“Then you climbed out off the tub and we dried off your body.”
“Then we got dressed for bed.”