Bath time Babbling: How to Communicate During Daily Routines

One point I press upon the families I work with is that you Do Not need to sit down with your child for an hour of "therapy" per day to teach your child to communicate.  What is more important, and more beneficial to your child's communication, is using your daily routines to teach language.   

Bathtime is a prime example of this, as it is rich with communication opportunities.  Plus, hopefully your  child is taking a bath most days of the week, making it a frequently occuring routine!  Here are 20 ideas for bathtime language learning:

1.  Clothes off
2.  Water on
3.  Water off
4.  Water hot
5.  In tub
6.  Toys please
7.  Bubbles
8.  More bubbles
9.  More toys
10.  Pop!  (bubbles)
11.  Wash face (arms, legs, feet, hands, hair, ears, tummy, etc)
12.  Soap on rag
13.  Get out your stacking cups and the options continue--water in, water out, full cup, empty cup, splash...
14.  Wet hair
15.  Out of tub
16.  Get dry
17.  Diaper on
18.  Pajamas on--head in, arms in, legs in
19.  Dry hair
20.  I was cold, now I'm warm!

Most of these suggestions focus on teaching concepts (in, out, on, off, hot, full, empty, warm, cold), as well as a few sound effects (pop, splash), requests (more, please), and vocabulary words (tub, toys, body parts, rag, diaper, pajamas, bubbles).  One thing I enjoy doing with my little guy who is learning to talk is to babble back and forth with him.  He LOVES bathtime, and vocalizes frequently in the tub.  Plus, he's stuck in a tub, and can't run away for me!  So he babbles "didabidada", and I say, "oh yeah, didadadadi", and he babbles something back at me.  I have no agenda other than having fun "conversing" with him.  It is great practice for him to use speech sounds and take turns in a conversation! 

Happy Splashing this week!   

What is your favorite tip for communicating during bathtime?