More fun with personal, child-friendly helpers for personal hygiene
A well-thought-out bathroom organisation saves unnecessary searching. Having a fixed place for toothbrushing items, a flannel, soap, shower gel, a towel and even for dirty laundry helps to keep things tidy. Sound dull? It isn’t!
Child-friendly, pretty, own bathroom helpers motivate children to look after themselves. With colourful toothbrush cups, towels with fun motifs and little storage helpers for odds and ends from hair ties to nail scissors, the bathroom can be both cosy and functional.
Not boring at all: fixed routines ease the load
Rituals, habits and rules in the bathroom make everyday life easier and free your head. A painted plan, a picture collage or simply a list with symbols helps children become familiar with the routines and keep things tidy:
Don’t leave dirty laundry lying around; put it straight in the laundry basket,
Rinse the toothbrush after use and put it back with the head upright,
Screw the toothpaste tube closed and put it back in its place,
Put the hairbrush away after use,
Hang the towel up after drying,
Close the toilet lid.
Worth a try: let them do it themselves
Children are more engaged the more they are allowed to do themselves. That’s why things work best in the bathroom when the “ingredients” for getting clean are within reach. Depending on their children’s age, parents will still need to check and do a final scrub. But eventually they manage independently, which relieves mums and dads.
O•O Hack: a to‑do aid for independent kids
We’ve also got an O•O Hack for your routine: the DIY Velcro strip can transform morning routines! Each child gets their own strip and can decide how it looks and the order of the to-dos, such as getting dressed, washing, breakfast, brushing teeth, etc. to put on it. Well, putting on shoes and jackets should perhaps always be at the end of the strip…
We’ve created a downloadable document with lots of pictures for the day’s important to-dos that you can print out and use to craft the strip(s). Of course each child can also draw their own pictures. The important thing is to include the little ones in designing their strips — that’s the only way it works in practice. From then on the kids are responsible themselves: When a to‑do is done, they fold over the corresponding picture on the strip — until only ticks remain. Ready for take‑off!
Since we started using the Velcro strips, our kids are ready in no time. Often even faster than us parents. And everyone’s mood is better. A huge step towards independence and a blessing for family peace.
What you’ll need:
one sheet of coloured card each in red and green
scissors and glue
small self-adhesive Velcro dots
symbol pictures for your personal to-dos – from our download or your own designs
pens for colouring the symbols
Of course you can use different colours of paper and colouring materials. Be creative and feel free to show us how you designed your “tick‑it strip”.
How to:
Print the to‑do pictures and the ticks.
Think about how your day/morning/lunchtime/evening runs and decide the order of the to‑dos.
Cut out the to‑do pictures that apply to you and the same number of tick boxes. If your card isn’t enough for all your to‑dos, simply make a second “tick” piece.
Fold the green paper in half and glue the red on the back. Tip: To ensure the finished “tick” folds easily, you can cut the red paper down the middle, shorten both pieces by about 1 mm and stick them separately to the inside of the folded green paper.
Now stick the to‑do boxes as straight as possible onto the red inner section (bottom). Caution: Leave a little space between the boxes so you don’t cut anything away later when you snip.
Once everything is glued, carefully snip from the edge to the fold line with the scissors.
Now that you’ve separated the individual to‑do snippets, it’s easier to place the ticks on the (green) outer side. Important: To ensure the ticks appear the right way round after folding, they must be stuck on upside down.
Almost done! Now just stick on the Velcro dots. Tip: Stick one side of the Velcro dot first, place the matching piece onto it and then simply fold the card over. That way you make sure both sides of the Velcro line up.
Extra tips:
Laminate the strip if possible. That way it survives chocolatey fingers and toothpaste splashes.
Instead of Velcro dots, you can attach colourful press studs with snap pliers.
Do the children prefer to keep the strips with them rather than hang them up? That works too and saves steps. However, it does increase the risk of having to search for the strips now and then.
When the sense of time is missing
“Hurry up, we have to leave soon!” – children only gradually understand how long five minutes are or what “soon” and “in a moment” mean. And the fact that mum and dad have to be at work at 8 o’clock doesn’t interest them in the least when they’re trying to see how high they can build a tower.
A consistently the same morning routine can help with a less stressful start to the day. Parents can also discuss with very young children how the time between getting up and leaving should run.
Who needs how much time in the bathroom and when?
A bit of planning is necessary. Then everyone gets their turn. Some mums or dads like to get up before the rest of the family so they can use the bathroom in peace.
If there’s a bottleneck at the same time every morning, family members should consider other arrangements: teenagers can get ready in their rooms, two people can brush their teeth together at one basin, hair can be combed in the hallway. And dawdling children who are slow to get going in the morning need more time, which parents should factor in.
When to brush teeth in the morning?
Good to know: if you like to start the day with something sweet, you should brush your teeth after breakfast. If you prefer fruit or orange juice — something more acidic — you should brush before the first meal of the day. Otherwise you risk gradually wearing away the tooth enamel over time.
