Bathtime is filled with opportunities to learn and is a ritual that takes place daily. This is the time to wind our day down and begin to prepare for bedtime. Bath time provides great opportunities to incorporate sign language and songs while accomplishing a daily task.

SIGNS TO USE AT BATH TIME

While preparing the bath, begin signing the word “BATH” while telling your little one that it is time for a bath. The sign for “BATH” is easy. Making fists with both of your hands, gently rub your chest up and down. See the sign card graphic for BATH here.

I always sang a silly cheer /chant spelling out the letters of “bath” when it was bath time. It was something I made up and consistently did with all three of my children when they were little. Creating that familiar chant and saying it consistently helps the routine of bath time become familiar and consistent.

B-A-T-H ! Everybody takes a bath! (repeat several times to encourage others to join in)

While bathing your little one take advantage of the opportunity to talk and sing. When I bathed my babies I would sing a song that named the different body parts I was washing. We were growing our vocabulary while taking a bath. The smallest intentional moments make great learning opportunities. Here is the song we sing:

To the tune “Wheels On the Bus”

This is the way we wash our body, wash our body, wash our body. This is the way we wash our body. When we take a bath!

Substitute body for other parts you are washing (ex. hair, arms, legs, stomach and so on) Don’t forget to do the sign for bath when singing too.

If you have a rubber duck or other bath toys, you can teach the signs for those words, too. The sign for duck involves making a duckbill with your fingers and thumb, holding it in front of your mouth and opening and closing your fingers and thumb like a duck. See the sign card graphic for DUCK here.

When it is time to get out of the bath, use the sign all done to communicate that bath time is over. All done is signed by starting with your hands open and palms facing you, then twisting your wrists so your palms face out. Repeat the motion a few times and say “All Done” while signing it. See the sign card graphic for ALL DONE here.

To learn more about growing your baby’s brain, download my free guide, Infant Brain Development Tips.