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Making Potty Training Fun
Activities to Get Kids Interested in Potty Training
By Kelly Burgess
"Starting around age 2, making potty training toys just a part of the game playing that you do with your child will help them understand what is expected of them when the time is right," Cohen says. "Play is how children learn and these toys are wonderful educational tools."
Dr. Michael F. Wasserman, a pediatrician with Ochsner Health System in New Orleans, La., says incentives and toys are fine, but a parent needs to be sure they keep it all very positive and find something that will interest the child for the long term.
"With my own child we tried incentives and he simply wasn't interested," Dr. Wasserman says. "Ultimately, you have to find what turns the child on."
That may be as simple as a potty chart the child can put stickers on, or as complex as the pressure from the child's peers at preschool who are no loner in diapers. That, says Dr. Wasserman, can be the most powerful incentive of all.
Dr. Wasserman's best advice when it comes to toys is to keep it simple. Don't promise big toys for success – especially to younger children – because it puts too much pressure on them and they may not really understand the concept of working toward a reward. Instead, use potty training toys just as another tool to help model the basics of potty training. For example, playing house and having the doll use the potty and then wash hands. Just spending time with a child modeling through play is the best potty training activity available.