Lockdown Day 6 – Scrubbing slops!
What better drawcard than to offer the child the opportunity to play (read – work!) with water?! There are so many options that will not only get some of the housework done but will also exercise the mind and body, and keep the little people happy and busy.
SCRUBBING SLOPS
How many times have you looked at your family’s slops and made a mental note that they all need a really good scrubbing?
You are in luck, as you currently have the best slop scrubber in the house!
Set the child up in the garden (or somewhere where a bit of water spillage is not going to cause you unnecessary distress) with a low basin, a jug, a small detergent dispenser, a nail brush and a drying cloth.
Ask the child to walk with you around the house to look for and collect all the dirty slops. This is a great opportunity to do some vocabulary building. You can discuss the colour of the slops, their level of ‘dirtiness’, the size of the slops etc. Once you have collected all the slops and are back at the washing station, you could even get the child involved in a grading activity to lay the slops out in order from the biggest to the smallest. Or – the least dirty to the most dirty! You have so many options!
Now ask the child to use the jug to collect some water to fill the basin. We would suggest that you make a mark in the bowl so that the child can see how full the basin needs to be. Then show the child how to use the detergent dispenser to dispense a clear amount of detergent into the water. You need to be quite firm about this! For example – THREE PUMPS of the dispenser (if this is the container that you have), or TEN DROPS… You can decide – as long as you are doing some Maths here!
Now demonstrate to the child how you scrub the slop with the nailbrush until it is clean. Once it is clean put it aside, and invite the child to start on its partner (this is also a good matching skill!). Leave the child to continue scrubbing until done and then ask her/him to call you so you can show her/him the next step.
Ask the child to now carefully carry the basin with the dirty water to a flower bed and gently pour the water onto the plants. The child will then take the basin back to the workspace, collect some clean water in the jug to fill the basin to rinse off off the scrubbed slops. The water is then again discarded in the flower bed. Use the drying cloth to dry the slops and ask the child to return them to their owners!
As always, remember to involve the child in tidying up the workspace.
Have fun!
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