After a Bath: NCERT Class 1 English Poem (Marigold Unit 2)

etmantra18 Jun 20209 min read

Every child knows the feeling of being wet after a bath. This short poem turns drying off into a game, and its repeating words make it easy and fun to say aloud. It is also a nice way to practise the names of body parts.

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From the NCERT English book Marigold for Class 1, unit 2. NCERT’s newer Class 1 book is Mridang, but many schools still teach Marigold.

Watch: After a Bath

Play the video three or four times. The first time, just listen. Then point at the pictures, and from the third time, say the lines along with the video. Short, repeated listening is how CALP builds a child’s English.

What your child learns

Body-part words: hands, fingers, toes, legs, nose
Action words: wipe, dry, shake
Rhyming words like toes and nose
Saying a poem aloud with repeated words and actions

What the poem is about

A child has just had a bath and tries hard to wipe every part dry. The child dries the hands, fingers, toes, both wet legs and a shiny nose.

Then the child has a funny thought. If the child were a dog, drying would be much quicker, because a dog just shakes the water off. The poem is playful and makes an everyday habit feel like fun.

New words, with Hindi meanings

bath: washing your whole body with water (हिंदी: नहाना)
wipe: rub with a towel or cloth to clean or dry (हिंदी: पोंछना)
dry: not wet (हिंदी: सूखा)
wet: covered with water (हिंदी: गीला)
fingers: the five small parts at the end of your hand (हिंदी: उंगलियाँ)
toes: the small fingers on your feet (हिंदी: पैर की उंगलियाँ)
shiny: bright, catching the light (हिंदी: चमकीला)
shake: move quickly from side to side (हिंदी: झटकना)

Sing and dance

Once your child knows the poem, sing it together with actions. Children who can’t sing yet can still do the moves.

Talk about it

Ask these aloud after reading or watching. Let your child answer in English if they can, or mix in their home language. Both help.

What does the child try to do after the bath?
Which parts of the body does the child wipe?
How does a dog get dry?
How do you dry yourself after your bath?

Answers for parents

The child tries to wipe the whole body until it is dry.
The child wipes the hands, fingers, toes, two wet legs and the nose.
A dog shakes its body and the water flies off.
For example: I rub myself with a big towel, and my mother dries my hair.

Grammar corner: Rhyming words

Rhyming words end with the same sound, like toes and nose. Poems use them to sound like a song. Saying rhyming words aloud helps children hear the sounds in English.

I wash my nose and then my toes.
My towel is dry, and so am I.
The puppy can shake and then sleep by the lake.

Practice at home

Fill in the blank: I wipe my hands till they are ___.
Which word rhymes with nose: hands, toes or legs?
Make a sentence with the word 'wet'.

Answers: 1. dry · 2. toes · 3. For example: My hair is wet after my bath.

Try this

Play 'wipe and shake'. Say the poem slowly and, as each body part comes up, pretend to wipe it with an imaginary towel. At the end, shake your whole body like a wet dog. Then call out other body parts, such as ears, elbows or knees, and let your child point to them.

Tip for parents

At bath time, name each body part in Hindi first, like haath, ungliyan and naak, and then say the English word as you dry it. If your child says 'mera nose shiny hai', that is fine: smile, repeat 'my nose is shiny' and praise them for trying.

Questions parents ask

What is the poem After a Bath about?

It is about a child who wipes each part of the body dry after a bath. At the end the child wishes to be a dog, because a dog can simply shake itself dry.

Which words rhyme in After a Bath?

Some rhyming pairs are try and dry, toes and nose, and take and shake.

Which NCERT book is After a Bath from?

After a Bath is Unit 2 of NCERT's older Marigold book for Class 1. The newer NCERT English books are Mridang for Class 1–2 and Santoor for Class 3–5.

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