As a parent, one of the most important lessons you can teach your children is a love for reading. Neurological tests have revealed that a healthy baby is born with approximately 200 billion active brain cells, which each live longer when they are stimulated through practices like reading and talking to your child. Research has shown that teaching a child to read has a strong influence over the function and development of the child’s brain. Starting as early as possible ensures that you will pass onto your child a lifelong appreciation for learning.

Start Reading Sooner with Children’s Bath Books

Surrounding children with books throughout their lives is a great way to spark curiosity and familiarize them with these tools for both learning and entertainment. A relatively new invention called bath books allows parents to merge reading with bath time to encourage children to derive enjoyment out of this activity. Because bath books spend a lot of time in water, you will want to properly maintain them by tossing them in the washing machine about as often as you would wash clothes or towels. This is to prevent mold and mildew growth, which can often compromise the quality and life of the books.

Fun Activities to Plan with Bath Books

Like most young children, your own child probably dislikes bath time. Bath books give kids an extra incentive to comply with this daily hygiene routine by turning it into a period of storytelling and interacting with lovable characters from exciting children’s books. One way you can make bath time reading more fun is by purchasing bath toys that resemble the characters in each bath book and act the story out in the tub.

Another fun and educational idea is to purchase foam bath letters and ask your child to spell simple words from the book by placing them on the wall of the tub, or simply asking him or her to hold up the first letter of different words you come across. Practicing these activities will familiarize your child with the shapes and sounds of letters, which fosters quicker learning. Whatever activity you can do to keep your child engaged and excited about the story will help them understand the joys of reading and learning.

Which Bath Books Are Best?

Many bath books feature stories surrounding themes such as washing, water, and other elements related to bath time. This is because children are often more interested in stories that draw upon the experiences they’re having at the moment. Some excellent, parent-approved titles to consider for your child’s next bath include the following.

• “Baby Einstein’s What Floats?” by Julier Aigner-Clark                                                              
• “Bath Time” by Sandra Boynton
• “Tilly Turtle” by Pam Adams
• “Spot’s Toys” by Eric Hill
• “My Curious World” by Han Augusto Rey and Margret Rey

For especially creative children, you can make bath time reading even more interactive by creating a story of your own. It can be as simple as sewing soft fabrics together and writing the story on them with permanent marker for a bath-friendly book. You can get as creative as you like with different types of fabrics by cutting and sewing the illustrations onto the book as well. Helping your child create a book of their own will make them feel more involved in the reading experience, which will foster excellent skills in creativity and expression.

Danielle, who blogs on behalf of Sears and other brands she trusts, is an adult who enjoys reading in the bathtub. She figures, why shouldn’t kids be able to enjoy that same simple pleasure?

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