Wash the car
Cold water running down the sleeve, a slippery sponge sliding away and suds clinging to the hands turn washing the car into a test of stamina. The visual support below lays out the steps so the wet does not take over.
♂Wash the car
A hand washing a blue car with a yellow sponge and bubbles in the air.
About this visual support
The wet part is most of the job. Water that turns cold, a sponge twisting out of the grip and suds left on the fingers make for a layered sensory experience, while the arms have to scrub hard for several minutes. For a child who already finds wet hands unpleasant, it easily becomes too much at once.
When the steps become pictures, the child knows what is waiting and can take it in pieces. Rinse first, soap up, scrub, hose off, dry. Seeing that the wet step has an end, and that the dry one comes after, makes it easier to stay in the discomfort a little longer.
One concrete tip: give the child their own sponge and their own area, a door or a wheel for example, and keep the water lukewarm if you can. A bounded patch that visibly gets clean gives quick feedback, so the hands last longer than when the whole car sits there as one big job.
You can lay out the washing steps in Routined and let the child follow the pictures right there at the car. The app is free to try for fourteen days.