Fun in the bath & RDI time ~ Lisa P.

I see a lot of information on the net that I find worthwhile sharing. However, the posts just get lost among everything else that is bandied around in cyberspace.  Therefore, I have decided to save them for my future reference and also share them here for those readers who are interested in RDI and tips on how to guide.

The following is written by Lisa Palasti. She is a parent of two amazing teenage boys and a certified RDI® Program Consultant.  She utilizes RDI in her own life and her professional life on a daily basis with astounding results.  You can find out more about Lisa on her website at www.mindfulguideconsulting.com or like her on facebook at Mindful Guide Consulting

Splish! Splash!
Fun in the Bath AND RDI Time!

Here are some ideas to incorporate RDI into your evening bath time routine. 

Exploring and Experimenting / My idea, your idea – gathering kitchen items to use in the tub. Each child / parent has a chance to gather something from the kitchen that they might want to use in the tub during bath time. Parent and child equally choose items to experiment with. Some ideas could include things like a strainer, egg beater, measuring cup, turkey baster, funnel, Ziploc bag. This also helps foster flexible thinking and problem solving as it helps kids think about familiar things in new ways.

More Exploring and Experimenting along with Anticipating and Predicting - Gather items from the kitchen to do a fun “sink or float” experiment grabbing stuff to see which item will sink and which will float in the tub. You can spotlight the not knowing as the FUN part. It’s okay if we don’t know because we can try and find out! This is really helpful for kids who are afraid of not getting it right. The uncertainty is the fun part. Do NOT emphasis whether someone was right or not in their initial prediction especially if your child is afraid to take risk in case of being wrong.

Appraisal Process - another great way to help promote mental engagement is to have your child begin to do a bit of the appraisal process. For example, is the water too cold, too hot or just right (kids might be afraid of too hot so you can do it with them and go first by modelling and testing the water) invite them to try it after you. Also when is there enough water? Enough bubble bath? Enough toys? Using self-talk is an effective way to initialize this process so you will be making your thinking transparent for your child.

Monitoring or simultaneous processing - help your child learn to better shift and divide his attention by doing more than one task at a time. You may begin to fill the bath and while it’s filling (periodically check the temp and water level) you add another task like doing simple things like lying out PJ’s, clothes for the next day, getting a towel and wash cloth, brushing teeth.

Experience sharing - Bath time can also be a great time for connecting emotionally so no expectations just chillax time. Practice your experience sharing communication. Working the moment of anticipation while by pouring water over various parts of the kid’s bodies or blowing bubbles on various body parts can be fun. Great for experience sharing gazing and warm fuzzy feelings. Hold that face to face gazing before you pour or blow as long as you can.

Or put your swimsuit on and get right in the tub with your kiddo! Great for face to face emotion sharing. I’ve done this and it a load of fun! Just wait to you see the look of surprise on your kids face when you begin to step in the tub with them.

Indirect prompts or communication effectiveness - Clean up time of toys or kitchen utensils can be done by delivering clues such as “I need the thing that I use at breakfast” or “We use this at Thanksgiving” or “I need the red round thing” - this encourages mental engagement, referencing and monitoring for communication comprehension.

Non-verbal communication - practice non-verbal communication by showing him which body part to wash next all non-verbally. So Fun! And more engaging and less demanding than telling your child what to do.