Poo-Pooing Poop

How do you get a 5-year-old to stop saying “poo”?

His dad had tried to ban the word but that just seemed to make it more fun to say and more irritating for his dad.

I decided I would give him permission and see if that would take away the fun. At least that was the idea when I came across the “Who Pooped in the Park? Scat and Tracks for Kids” book while I was traveling in Seattle. This very well written and illustrated book takes the reader through a walk in Olympic National Park. The reader learns to identify what animals live in the park by identifying the poo (aka scat) and tracks the animals leave behind.

When I presented the book to the kids I hid it behind my back and told them they were not allowed to say the ‘word’ on the cover over and over again. Their curiosity peaked. I pulled the book out and they couldn’t wait to hear it for their bedtime story. Their father took it rolling his eyes at me. I could hear the thoughts – YOU bought them a poo book! By the time he finished the book the kids were still excited and wanted to hear it a second time and he proclaimed it was really educational and well done.

I have since rarely heard the word “poo” or “poop” out my son. If we find scat in the yard he wants to figure out who left it there. So hopefully we have taken a 5-year-old’s fascination with a ‘dirty word’ and changed it into a fascination with science and nature.