Fun at bath time

Bath time is a great opportunity to help develop your child's language.  Your child has your undivided attention, making it a great time to talk and play. 

Here are some ideas to try:

• Name items: Engage your child's attention and name the bath items you use (e.g. soap, shampoo, sponge etc.).  You could name the parts of the body as you wash and dry them, e.g. hands, feet, nose, ears
• Describe items: Talk about the colours of items, e.g. white towel, blue sponge etc.  Talk about how things feel, e.g. fluffy, soft, slippery etc.
• Compare items: Engage your child's attention and compare the size of different bath items or talk about opposites, e.g. the towel is bigger than the flannel etc
• Make a bath time basket: Bath time baskets contain items from around the home for your child to explore in the bath as you are with them all the time.  Most bath toys are made of plastic which is good for cleaning but not very tactile for children....so grab a basket, box or something similar and let you child help you to fill it for bath time. 

Ideas include:

• Clean flower pot  acts as a sieve
• Bath books for a story
• Bath mitt - You can use a character mitt to tell a story and sing with as well as to wash your child with
• Rubber glove - put a small pin prick in each finger of the glove ad let your child fill with water.  Then squeeze.  Great fun and a great stress reliever for you too.  PLEASE NOTE: this is only for children who are not allergic to LATEX and is only to be used under adult supervision
• Empty plastic bottles  and jugs for filling and pouring
• Doll or teddy - let your chid wash a favourite toy.  This helps them to practice social skills and develop their imagination skills too.