Teddy needs the toilet – how to play in a way which supports learning

What you need  

• A teddy, or other favourite animal or character toy 
• A clean potty, or a bowl which you can pretend is the potty 

What to do 

• Play with the teddy together, if your child prefers to hold their toys when playing grab a second teddy for you to use.  
• Pretend the teddy is playing games that your child likes, or going to a familiar place like the park or garden.  
• Suddenly stop and get the teddy to say something like, “I think I need a wee!” 
• You can bring the teddy to the potty (or pretend potty if you prefer) and go through the same process your child would while talking out loud, “Teddy needs to find the potty, there it is, and now she needs to pull down her trousers and underwear. Oh, yes that was tricky, there we go. Now Teddy needs to sit on the potty until she has finished.” 
• Sit the teddy on the potty, and after they’ve ‘been’ you can show your child how the teddy would wipe, get dressed and wash their hands. 
• Go back to playing again, but after a short while repeat the process, making it fun by having the teddy run to the toilet, or maybe needing help from your child to find the potty. 
• Each time you can have the teddy explain a bit more about how they knew they needed a wee. This is tricky as we often don’t quite know how we know, as adults, but thinking about what it feels like when you need the toilet and trying to explain that will help your child understand what their body is telling them. You might say something like, “Oh, I can feel a tingle in my tummy, it feels like it is pushing inside my tummy a bit. I think that means I need a wee!” 

Good to know 

You will still need to look for the telltale signs that your child needs the toilet, especially if they're engrossed in play or another activity, and use those to prompt them to go. It takes a long time to learn how to recognise the signs in time to make it all the way to a toilet, so talking about what it feels like when your child is relaxed during play can help them to remember the process at other times.   

When you’re playing with a teddy or other toys, if your child does have some telltale signs of needing the toilet (like dancing in a certain way, holding themselves or crossing their legs) have the teddy do the same things then notice that they need a wee, so that you child can make the connection too.