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Home › Articles › Development › Beyond the Bubbles

Beyond the Bubbles

Bath Time Makes Learning Fun

By Laura Cone

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"What's important is they know number one means one of something and number two is two of those items," Baker says. "For a toddler to have a number one and a symbol that looks like a number two is way ahead in learning. What's more important is that there be three ducks and you say, 'This is one duck, two ducks, three ducks.' They get the idea these words one, two, three have meanings."

At the same time, don't be afraid of confusing a toddler by showing them a purple cow, a green elephant or a yellow duck when teaching the child about colors. Toddlers are only focusing on one or two attributes at the same time. They may be looking at the color or the shape of an object, but not necessarily both.

"It does not matter that something might be a different color than the real thing as long as the association is about one thing they are holding in their minds," Baker says.

Positive Communication

Baker says toddlers are at the stage where they have already heard many words and are now trying to control their lips, mouth and tongue so they can repeat sounds and words. "Being positive is very important and minimizing negative comments is also important," he says.

Baker suggests giving your toddler choices. After bathing, for example, let your toddler pick out which towel he wants to use to dry up. Tell your child what you want him to do, rather than what you don't want, so he doesn't receive attention for misbehaving.

"By focusing on the negative the child gets stuck in that behavior and repeats it," Baker says. "By focusing on what we would like to see them do, kids will do those things and will ignore the negative because they are guided into what should be done."

It's OK to tell your toddler "no," especially if it's about safety, but make sure to also say yes frequently, Baker says.


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