Splashing and squatting – encouraging your toddler to squat using water and toys

What you need 

• A towel 
• Bowl of water 
• A handful of toys that can get wet 

What to do  

1. Place the bowl of water on the towel on the floor.  
2. Encourage your toddler to come over to the bowl and show them they can dip their hands in and have a splash. You may need to encourage your toddler to stand rather than sit on their bottom. 
3. Sit with your toddler and show them one of the toys. Engage their interest by saying something like, “Oooh, what have I got here?”  
4. Once you have their attention, lift the toy into the air and drop it into the water. You could describe the sound of the toy hitting water by saying, “Splash!”  
5. Ask your toddler to lift the toy out of the water – they might try to squat to lift out the toy.  

Good to know 

Your toddler will most likely want to drop the toy next; this is brilliant. Encourage them to stand up tall and drop the toy. When they retrieve the toy from the water, encourage them to squat. You can introduce more toys depending your toddler’s interest.