Laundry Games For Toddlers

With a toddler in your house, I’m sure you’re a laundry professional! Toddlers are messy, and that means lots of outfit changes. It may even feel like there’s a daily fashion show going on at your house, and you wouldn’t be alone. 

Today, I’m going to share some ways that you can engage your toddler while you’re doing laundry and grow their speech and language skills at the same time.

I love to build at home practice into activities and routines you’re going to be doing regardless. Pairing your practice with a daily routine or activity helps families maintain their practice for days or weeks, which is very helpful for developing a toddler's skills. It also means that your left over time at the end of the day can be used for relaxing or just having fun together, rather than adding another to do item to your list. 

Choosing the best laundry game for your toddler

I understand that every child is developing speech and language at their own pace. You’ll see that I’ve created 3 different ways that you might incorporate your at home practice when doing your laundry. Each way corresponds to a different stage in communication development. Read about the stages below and use the link to find the activity that would be best for you!

1. Explorers - Children who have not said their first word yet

2. Pioneers - Children who use single words - “Mama” “Dada” “Ball” “Milk” etc. 

3. Builders - Children who put two or more words together on their own

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Explorer’s Laundry Game

Your little explorer is going to help you put things in the washing machine. They’ll be sitting or standing safely next to the washing machine and you’re going to make a “game” by putting the dirty laundry in the washing machine one piece at a time. Think of this like laundry basketball. 

This “game” also works for putting your clean clothes into the dryer. Depending on how your laundry room or laundromat is set up it may be easier to get your little one’s help with either the washer, the dryer, or both. If neither the washer or the dryer can be safely accessed by your little, then you can hand them the laundry as you take it out of the dryer, and they can put the clean laundry into the hamper before you fold it. 

For the purposes of this example, I’m going to talk about some things you can say to encourage your little one to repeat you when you are putting clothes into the washing machine. You can modify the wording to fit whichever laundry scenario works best for you. 

First, put one dirty garment in the washing machine as you say “in.” Then point inside the washing machine excitedly and make a comment about what you just did, such as “I put it in!” 

Next, your child gets a dirty garment. They may put it in on their own or you may have to encourage them to do so. When they put the dirty item in the washing machine, you’re going to say “in” and point inside the washing machine when your little one puts something in. 

You’re watching for your child to:

1. Copy you putting the clothes into the washing machine

2. Copy you pointing to show that the clothes go “in” the machine 

3. Copy you saying “in” when something is placed inside the washing machine or to tell the other person to put something else “in” 

It can be really fun to be really playful during this activity. You might exaggerate like you’re making a slam dunk in the washing machine with your dirty clothes. You might naturally say words like “Yay!” or “Uh-Oh” if the clothes accidentally fall next to the washing machine opening. These are other short words you might hear your child repeat. 

As with every at home activity, patience is key. It might take your little one a few rounds of laundry to start copying you. The most important thing to remember is that practice should feel fun, so make it silly and enjoyable for both you and your child. I recommend trying this activity at least 5 times before moving on to another one. 

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Pioneer’s Laundry Game

Pioneers are learning tons of new words. When you do laundry with your pioneer you’re going to be naming the individual clothing items as you move them around. You can practice using these ideas at any point in your laundry cycle when you’re moving clothes from one place to another (putting clothes in the washing machine, moving them to the dryer, or taking clothes out of the dryer). 

For this example, I’m going to tell you what I would say if I were doing this activity when taking the clean clothes out of the dryer. 

As you take clothes out of the dryer you’re going to play a mystery game. Think of your dryer as the Scrabble letter tile bag, you don’t know what you’re going to get. Reach your hand in and pull one item out. “A sock!” you exclaim. Then comment, “I wonder what will come out next!” stick your hand in again and pull out another item, “Shirt!” 

Prompt your child to join in on the action by saying “Your turn” or another familiar phrase they may understand. Your little one may copy you on their own, excited to pull something out of the dryer. Or, you may have to encourage them to participate by showing them how to play this new “game” several times. 

When your child pulls something out of the dryer, wait for them to name it on their own. After watching you they may have learned the rules of the “game” already. If they don’t name the item on their own after a second or two, you can name it for them, “Shorts!” After you name the item they may imitate the name you said or not, both are okay for this activity and there’s no need to hold up the game to try to get them to repeat a word 🙂

In this activity, you’re watching for your little one to:

1. Take a turn playing the “game” - pulling something out of the dryer

2. Listen to you label the clothing items - making it silly can help to keep their attention

3. Copy one of the names of a clothing item they heard you say

4. Name the clothing items on their won

And don’t forget to be silly (no one else is watching ;) ), have fun, and practice this game at least 5 times. Children learn best when you play the same games and repeat the same words many days in a row. 

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Builder’s Laundry Game

When doing laundry with your builder, it’s all about who the clothes belong to. You’re going to play the Laundry Detective Game and figure out who each piece of laundry belongs to. Alternatively, you can talk about what room the laundry came from (this is great if you have kitchen towels, bath towels, etc.). Builders are putting words together on their own, and you’re going to be showing them some new ways to combine words when talking about laundry. 

You can do this activity at any point during your laundry routine. I’m going to share some things you might do or say as you’re taking the clean clothes out of the dryer. I like to practice when taking the clothes out because you can make piles of clean laundry for each person as you determine who the laundry belongs to. 

To get started, take one item of laundry out of the dryer. Hold it up and ask, “Whose shirt is this?” After pondering for a second, you say “Ahhh! It’s Dad’s shirt! Dad has the biggest shirts. This big shirt is his.” 

Then encourage your little one to take something out of the dryer if they haven’t already. You then ask, “Whose sock is that?” and a few scenarios may happen:

• If they say nothing – you answer for them. It may take some time to teach them the rules of this “game,” and that’s okay. “It’s your sock. It’s a little sock.”  

• If they give the wrong answer – you say the correct answer and give an explanation. “This is your sock. This sock is little and it fits your little feet. My foot is too big for this sock.” You can hold the sock up to their foot and yours to show them as you explain. 

• If they give the correct answer – you can give an affirmative, “Yep, that’s your sock.” 

Keep going with the Laundry Detective Game. It’s expected that some word combinations will be easier for your little one to learn than others. Practicing over the course of several days or weeks is most helpful for toddlers. 

Watch and listen for your builder to:

1. Listen to you talking about who the clothing items belong to

2. Ask a question as part of the “game” - “Whose shirt is that?”

3. Combine words to talk about who the clothing items belong to 

I’d encourage you to play the laundry game when you do laundry for a week or so. Repeating the game will be helpful for your growing toddler. The more practice they get with word combinations, the sooner they’ll be using more sentences on their own.

Here are some common questions parents ask about toddler laundry games:

• What are laundry activities?

  For toddlers, laundry activities include any portion of the laundry process that they can safely participate in. Depending on how your laundry room is set up, this will be different for each family. Laundry activities are a great time to practice speech and language because you can be sure to repeat your practice week after week.

• What is the laundry game for toddlers?

  There are many different ways that you can play a “game” with your laundry. In this post we talk about 3 different laundry games for toddlers:

  • Laundry Slam Dunk

  • Name That Laundry Game

  • Laundry Detective Game

Written By:

Stephanie Keffer Hatleli, MS, CCC-SLP

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