Hi guys,
Like many parents out there in the community I believe that education begins at home! Teaching our kids to enjoy learning and then watching their face as they discover something new is really a great joy.
As a mum I am always looking for ideas to
help to teach my children and also to keep it fun and interesting. When possible I also try and use routine tasks such as bed making, not only fun but also a lesson on life or science. Did you know you can teach your child about gravity just be making the bed!!! But that’s a whole different article. Lol.
Today I want to tell you all about ‘Bath time Fun”. As most parents know many of our kids love their baths but there are days when even the most eager child will drag their feet. NOT in my house, bath time in my house is not just about getting clean and playing its also a great place to learn new sounds and other things.
Here are some great activities for you to try:
~BIG BIG BUBBLE FUN~
Requires: -
- Bath, Sink or shower
- Lots of Soap
What to do: - Firstly get some soap in your hands and lather it up really well with some water. Then place your hands in a praying fashion and slowly open them so that your fingertips and base of your palms are still touching. After opening your hands slightly you should have a soapy film stretching over the hole between your hands. Gently blow on the soapy film until you get a bubble.
It may take you several tries to get right. Keep practicing and you can get bubbles as big as a basketball. Make sure you ask your child to try. Another GREAT idea is to try blowing bubbles from other body parts such as between their feet, fingers or even behind their ears . . . The places are endless with a little imagination.
This is a great activity and in time it will encourage your child to learn all about how some things can appear and disappear. The technical name for this is “permanence of objects”. By simply blowing up a bubble you will learns that bubbles are filled with air. Then they can also learn about what effects they can have on the bubble by hard or soft touch and also by hard of soft blowing on the bubble.
This is one activity that has my youngest daughter who is 23 months laughing her head off. These days she puts the soap in my hands and she also tries to blow bubbles herself. She is also the learning the differences between fast an slow and if you blow too fast them the bubble doesn’t work properly.
~BATH TIME WITH BOTTLES~
Requires: -
- Clean empty plastic bottles with lids
- Bath or sink
- Water
- Some food dye (different colours)
What to do:- Allow your child to explore by playing with an empty plastic bottle without a lid in the bath or a sink. Let your child watch and see how easily or hard the bottle sinks as it releases bubbles.
Then have a few bottles with the lids screwed on fairly tight. Have one bottle empty, another bottle full and a few other bottles in-between. Allow your child to experiment with which bottle is the hardest to push and hold under water. Your child will laugh and really enjoy it when you push the empty bottle deep into the water and then let go. You child will love watching the bottles pop up out of the water again and again.
This activity will teach your child to learn about shapes and volumes by playing with water and different shaped bottles and jars. This activity will also help to begin to teach your child about buoyancy.
We also use some food dyes inside some of the bottles as this also teaches our youngest about colours while playing. At 23 months our youngest knows 6 colours and loves trying to hide the coloured bottles and making us guess. . She hides the bottles by sitting on them, she gets crabby in a fun way when they keep popping up to the surface, this is also teaching her about gravity. . .
~UNDERWATER SOUNDS~
Requires:-
What to do:- Gently ask your child to put one ear under water and then listen as tap the side of the bath tub. Tap it again when they are above the water so they can compare the two sounds. Encourage them to try it themselves.
Then try tapping the bath with other objects such as bath toys or a teaspoon. Keep the sounds varied as this will help to hold your child’s interest! Another great idea is for you to use a straw and blow bubbles into the water while your child is listening.
Our children are constantly learning how their senses see, hear or smell things. This great activity allows them to experience hearing in many different and interesting ways. This will help your child to understand that sound travels differently through water and air. The lesson here is simple: sound travels faster underwater.
I really hope you have GREAT fun doing these activities with your children. I begun doing these when my daughter could sit up in the bath now she is 23months old and she really loves playing these games them. When we say its bath time she gets so excited. At the moment she doesn’t understand that she is learning BUT eventually all our fun playtime will be to her advantage. .
ALWAYS REMEMBER to supervise your child around water. NEVER assume anything when it comes to water . . . BE WATERSAFE!
Thanks for reading this and I hope you all enjoy having fun! I look forward to reading your feedback . . .
Cheers Kellz
xoxoxox
© Copyright 2008 Kellzacar. . All writings by Kellzacar remain the property of Kellzacar and should not be republished or copied without written permission. Kellzacar can be emailed via Minti. Any similarities are by coincidence only as all writings etc are the research and or thoughts of the writer. All links are to websites used or visited whilst writing this article
(April 19th) (
