My kids have always loved bath time. They hardly ever, ever complain about having to put aside their toys or activities to take a bath. We’ve ingrained bath time into our nightly routine for the most part, making it a right-after-dinner event that’s predictable and regular. Yet even when I need to bathe them at another time of day (for church, for a party, or just when they get sand-and-mud covered playing outside), I can nearly always bribe them into the tub with enough promises of bubbles and toys.
Recently, though, I have noticed that their current bath toys are losing their appeal. It’s true; we haven’t bought anything new for the bathtub in over a year. We’ve even been tossing in unused kitchen utensils and non-tub toys (GI Joes, for example) to sweeten the deal. Maybe it’s just time for me to admit that the toys we have in the giant, mesh bag are just below their ages and interest now that they’re growing older? Here’s what we have in our tub:
- Foam bath letters, numbers, and shapes (cut ourselves from craft foam sheets — the frugal way!)
- Foam garden flowers kit
- Plastic fish and other sea creatures (some squirt)
- Floating xylophone
- Rubber ducks
- Plastic boats
- Stacking and sorting multi-colored plastic cups
When I see them spelled out, these toys do seem a little juvenile. They were adored and occupied them for a long, happy while when they were infants and toddlers — but now they’re not so exciting.
I don’t know what’s out there in the bath toy market. I have seen enough to know that bath toys can be hit-or-miss….suction cups that don’t stick, parts that break, insides that grow moldy all make for a risky purchase in more ways than one.
What I’m asking you is this: What are the favorite bath toys of your around-preschool-age children? I would love ideas for both girls’ and boys’ bath toys. What shiny, plastic, spinning, dumping, color-changing gadgets bribe them to get into the tub and get clean? You can be general or specific (with online links). I’m all ears!
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Julie (2 years ago)
Funnels!! and shaving cream ($1 bottle goes a long way!) – you can finger paint with it…put it in muffin tin and color with food coloring, if ya like.
Michie (2 years ago)
My daughter loves shaving cream. I’ve found colored kids shaving cream soap – it comes in colors such as blue and purple, and she enjoys playing with them. We also like bathtub crayons that we can draw things on the tub. My daughter also loves The Little Mermaid, so anything Mermaid related tends to be a hit. I’ve also bought some toys that “grow” when added to water. She enjoys those too.