Potty — a step-by-step lesson for grown-up and child
This lesson teaches "potty" early and casually — the word meets the child long before the training does, so the little chair is an old friend by the time it matters.
What is this?
The potty is the toddler’s own little toilet — the blue chair with the yellow seat — and the word that the whole transition will be built on.
What does it mean?
Potty learning is a language project before it is a skill project: children need the words (potty, pee, poo, flush) long before the timing clicks. Fear shrinks when naming comes first.
What does the child need to know?
You need the potty visible and casual — in the bathroom, never a surprise — and the teddy demonstration. NO pressure, NO performance: the card’s job this week is just the word.
Why this matters
Families who name the potty early report smoother training: the tool is familiar, the words are shared, and the child walks in curious instead of ambushed.
What it teaches
Body-awareness vocabulary, imitation (the teddy sits), routine sequencing (pants down, sit, wipe, flush), and the patience that training will test.
Words to learn
pottysitpeepooflushbig kid
Say this to your child
“"Potty! This is the potty — your little chair. Teddy is sitting… well done, teddy! Want to try? Pants up is fine — just sitting. One day, pee and poo go in the potty. Big kid stuff!"”
Step by step
- Show and name, zero drama: "potty! This is YOUR potty — your very own little chair."
- The teddy demo: teddy "sits" on the potty. "Teddy is trying! Well done, teddy."
- Invite a clothed sit: the toddler tries it, pants up, for the novelty. "You sit on the potty!"
- Seed the words at every change: "one day, pee and poo will go IN the potty — big kid stuff!"
- Leave the door open, literally: the potty stays visible, unremarkable, ready. The word keeps working between lessons.
Look closer at the picture
On this card the word "potty" sits under a blue potty chair with a yellow seat — small, sturdy and exactly child-sized.
Ask your child
"What is this?" (potty!) "Where does teddy sit?" "Who has a potty?" (you do!)
What your child can say or do
Your child might announce "my potty!", sit the teddy repeatedly, or request a clothed sit at odd hours — curiosity, correctly aimed.
Out in the real world
Toilets are everywhere in a child’s world: at home, at grandma’s, the little cubby at the café. Each one is "a potty for big people" — the family of the word.
Try it together
Potty School: every doll and bear sits on the potty in turn while the toddler-teachers narrate: "sit… wait… well done!" The classroom runs itself.
Understanding check
Ask: "What is this?" (potty) "Whose potty is it?" (mine) "Where does teddy sit?" — name, own, demo: the word is in place before the training is.
This lesson pairs with the Potty flashcard in the library — print it, show it, keep it on the fridge. Back to Toddler Room.