Teaching speech: Boost skills during baby’s bath time

Little baby toes splashing in some suds.... isn’t it just the cutest thing ever? Bath time with your baby is a must-do chore on every parent’s list. So, why not make it enriching for your child’s speech development while you’re crossing off yet another part of your nighttime (or morning!) routine? 

Before the bubbly bath begins, you already have opportunities to talk to your little. I’m envisioning that getting undressed might spark a brief game of peek a boo for you and baby, gathering the bath supplies might be a fun game of ‘watch mom or dad pick up every item I drop on the floor’ as far as baby sees it, and you’ve got to get that lukewarm water running enough to say “let’s splash!”.  

As you turn on the water, think about how you can draw attention to some great functional vocabulary words that are bound to come up:

On. Water. Cold. Warm. Bathtub. In. Soap. Bubbles. Splash. Clean. Dirty. 

Splish, splash, learning speech in the bath

Have fun with your sweet pea and although you’re hiding your real feelings about the crusty baby food hiding in their hair (how did that end up there!), your bitty baby doesn’t think twice about it; they’re enjoying your company! Pour water out of a cup so baby can see the water rushing back into the tub, blow soap bubbles into the air if you’ve got quite the bubbly situation going on, laugh over fun hairstyles you’ve created in the tub, anything to talk to baby.

Oh and let’s not forget singing, you can make up a little number or use a go-to nursery rhyme but singing in the tub can be great language building for baby too, they are always drawn to how melodic it sounds when we sing a tune (singing talent not required!). 

Maybe you’re standing in front of the kitchen sink, maybe you’re kneeling beside a tub, you might even be on a tile floor in the middle of a room using a baby tub basin; wherever your family enjoys bath time you can implement language enriching activities for your little one just by talking all the while that you’re enjoying some light little splashes, sharing a smile or laugh, singing a tune while soaping them off or just chatting about baby’s discovery of water and what’s going on in the bath - your baby will benefit from that experience with you. 

Your baby is picking up on more than they show; learning what words mean by understanding the context in which we use them and hearing familiar words repeated within daily activities. They’ll be on their way to babbling during bath time until they can chat all about it themselves (won’t be long!).

Let me know how these ideas work for your family next time you’ve got baby in the tub. Leave a comment below!

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