How to Use Picture Rules in the Bathroom

Your #1 priority as a parent is to keep your children safe. You are their Safekeeper! Picture Rules help everyone in the family keep it safe by showing children exactly what we want them to do to keep it safe in a given situation.

The right hemisphere of the brain is in charge of self-regulation. Because the right hemisphere processes information in images, it’s important to show children visual images of what acceptable behaviors look like.

Bathing is a prime time for Picture Rules. Focus on safety when you create your rules and format them in the “do, do, don’t” style of the classroom Picture Rule Cards sold by Conscious Discipline. You will need two pictures of acceptable behaviors and one picture of an unsafe behavior with a red X through it. For example, one set of Picture Rules for tub time might depict: You may sit on your bottom. You may “swim” on your tummy. You may not stand up in the bathtub. Another set might show: You may play with the toys. You may blow bubbles. You may not splash water out of the tub.

Remember to change your bath time Picture Rules as your children grow. The rules and safety concerns for a 4-year-old, an 8-year-old, and a 13-year-old are quite different! An older child’s tub rules might show: You may relax in the tub. You may read in the tub. You may not use your electronics in the tub. The more information we give children about our expectations at all ages, the more likely they are to cooperate, keep it safe, and succeed.