Children's Bathtime English Vocabulary

Lots of my followers on Instagram have been requesting that I make videos about how I talk to my son. I made some stories about his bathtime on Instagram today. If you don’t yet follow me and my daily stories, you can here.

I have decided to turn those stories into this blog post for you.

Here is how I do my son’s bathtime:

First, I fill his baby bath with warm water. I check the temperature using a thermometer. Next, I choose some bath toys for him. I have a large selection of bath toys. I rotate them so that he has different toys for each bathtime. I also add a waterproof bath book to his bath. Next, I get a face cloth, baby body wash, a towel, a nappy (diaper in American English) and a clean outfit for him - perhaps a pair of shorts and a t-shirt, for example.

When everything is ready I say to him, “It’s bathtime. Let’s take off your clothes and your nappy and you can get in the bath.” Then I undress him and put him in. He loves bathtime.

Then I keep an eye on him (idiom) because it’s important to watch babies in the bath as there is a risk of drowning so they must not be left unattended.

I let him to play freely with his bath toys. Then I will speak to him and say, “Splash, splash! Let’s splash the water!” I demonstrate how to do this. I also talk to him about his different toys, what they are called and what they can do. For example, “This is a sheep. The sheep is white. The sheep can float. This is a blue whale. It can stick to the side of the bath, look. Can you stick it to the side of the bath?” Then I will read his bath book to him.

I let him have more free time to play. I check the temperature of the water and if it becomes cool over time, I will top it up with warm water to warm it up for him. When he gets bored I say, “Have you had enough? Have you finished? Have you finished in the bath? OK. Let’s get you out of the bath. Let’s get out.” I repeat phrases like that and then I lift him out and wrap him in a towel.

I say, “Are you cold?. That’s because you are wet. Let’s get you dry.” I rub him with the towel until he is dry. Then I say, “You are dry now. Let’s get your nappy on and get you dressed.” Then I put his nappy on. I say, “You have a clean nappy on. Now let’s put your t-shirt on. Let’s pull it over your head. Put your arm through. Put your other arm through. Let’s put your shorts on. Put your feet in. Let’s pull them up. Now you are dressed.”

Then I rinse his bath toys, put them to dry on the windowsill and then I empty his bath.

Phrasal verbs: to take off, to top up, to lift out, to pull over, to put through, to put on, to put in, to pull up.

Verbs: to check, to rotate, to undress, to demonstrate, to wrap, to rub, to rinse.

I hope this vocabulary is useful to you. I will make a printable script of this routine. You can put it in your bathrooms and follow it with your children. If you have any questions or requests for videos you would like me to film next, let me know on Instagram. Make sure you watch my Instagram stories because I film daily routines like this every day.

I also provide free trials of my Zoom online English classes for children. Email me at info@teatime-english.com for more information.

If you know someone who would find this blog post useful, please share it with them.

Good luck with your English!

P.S. One of my followers also recommended this bath song on YouTube.