Bathtime Activity: 24-30 Months

By age 2, your child will probably love the tub and may never want to get out! As you prepare for bathtime, see if he can help you with undressing. Ask him to follow a 2-step direction, such as, "Can you take off your pants and then your socks?" He should be able to do this, and you can even follow with asking him to go put his dirty clothes in the hamper. Children this age love to help! During bathtime, give him different-sized containers and let him experiment with pouring water from one into another. Continue to sing familiar bathtime songs to him and see if he can fill in the words when you pause (e.g., "Rubber ducky, you're the one. You make bathtime lots of ..."), then see if he can fill in the word "fun."

Possible Intervention Strategies & Supports

• Many children can be fearful of tipping their head back to have their hair wetted and/or shampoo rinsed off. Some children do well if you allow them to hold a washcloth over their face covering their eyes so that they do not have to tip back. Another possibility is to wait to rinse his hair until the bath is completely finished and the tub is drained, then he can lay on his back in the empty tub and you can pour water over his hair while he is laying down.

• Start to use positional words during bath play, such as under/over the water, in/out of the bucket, etc. Include them in giving directions first, then later in asking questions.

• Bathtime is a great time to help develop hand skills that will be needed for preschool activities, such as writing and cutting. For example, have him wring the water out of washcloths. Using a variety of squirt toys, such as those shown in the image on the right, and bottles can also help develop the muscles in the hands that are needed for handwriting and using scissors.

Tips

By this age (or even a bit earlier), your toddler may want to play with the tub faucet. Make sure you talk about the fact that hot water can come out of it. Be sure to use words like, "Ouch," and tell him that turning the knob is for only a grown-up to do. You may also want to consider turning your hot water heater temperature down to a lower setting as a part of childproofing your home, especially once your little one is up and moving around on his own. Click here for more tips on childproofing your home from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. 

Family Handout

Click here to download an editable one-page handout of this age range's bathtime activity, interventions, and tips.