Bath Time Activities that Won’t Make Mom Cranky
Bath time activities are a seamless way to include some play and discovery in your child’s day. What other opportunities does a child have to be totally drenched with water with a parent’s permission? When is it ever easier to wipe down the surface after your child makes a mess?
I learned early on as a parent that my kids were much more willing to get into the bathtub if the focus for them was fun. While my priority was still getting them clean, a little extra soaking time never seemed to make the job harder. And I learned that a little bit of “gear” in the bathtub made the job a lot more fun for them. There were some disasters, like the time our toddler jumped in fully clothed to join his older brother and then added the contents of the bathroom wastebasket as well.
But there was also the time that our 4-year-old was into “inventions” and set out to test out his “oxygen tank and diving mask.” Inventing his own tub toys was one of his favorite bath time activities. On this occasion, the tank was made from the spray bottle I used for misting plants, which he tied around his chest with a shoestring, and the mask and snorkel were concocted with safety goggles from the garage and pieces of his marble maze. The video I have from that occasion is a family classic.
Classic Bath Time Fun – A Collection of Favorite Ideas
If bath time is a battle, you may be able to end the conflict by making bath time a game. And if your kids love to bathe, these bath time activities will help create some happy memories.
1. Gather a Collection of Tub Toys
You can round up some fun tub toys from around the house without any added expense. A few recycled plastic cups, a turkey baster, and a sieve will entertain a hesitant bather until you have time to scrub behind the ears. Plastic toys from the toy box are always fun in the water and sturdy toys can be disinfected after bath time by running them through a cycle on the top rack of the dishwasher or soaking them for 5 minutes in the sink with a capful of liquid bleach added to the water.
2. Create Craziness with Craft Foam
The all-time favorite tub toy at our house was a simple container of shaped blocks made from craft foam. But you can create your own fun by cutting your own shapes from foam you purchase at a craft store. When they are wet, the foam blocks stick to the walls of the tub like magnets. With just a few basic shapes, bathers can create small cities, spell words, and more. For example, cut a variety of face shapes like eyes, noses and mouths so your child can mix and match different faces, an idea you’ll find at theIowaFarmersWife blog. You can also purchase pre-cut shapes at most discount department stores, as I did below for this snowman scene.
3. Invent your own Water Works
This ingenious idea for making tub toys out of PVC pipe comes from Maiz Connoly at thebroodinghen.com. You’ll find the tutorial here. For this great bath time activity, Maiz used a drill to punch a small hole in the side of each pipe and insert a silicone suction cup into the side of each PVC elbow so that the contraption can be assembled, reorganized, and re-arranged.
4. Blow Bubbles
Blowing bubbles is usually an outdoor activity, but you can bring the fun indoors when you blow bubbles overhead and let them drift down into the bath water where your child is playing. it’s a fun way to end the day and a favorite for toddlers in the tub. Use any variety of commercially made bubbles, but I recommend inexpensive color sticks full of bubble solution because the wand is so easy to use and because the containers double as a fun and colorful float toy in the tub.
5. Themed Bathtimes – Try a Floating Tea Party
A quick search on Pinterest will net you lots of ingenious ideas for “themed” bath time activities like an Outer Space Bath that includes everything from fluorescent water to glow-in-the-dark bathtub paint. A favorite that we tried recently was the Tea Party Bathtime. A floating tea party has many of the elements of a regular tea party with the exception that no one minds when the toy teapot contents get spilled. Here’s what you’ll need:
- A few colorful water balloons filled with warm water (caution: choking hazard for young children)
- A child’s kitchen tea set
- A beverage dispenser filled with warm water (food coloring is optional)
- Bubble bath
Simply fill a beverage dispenser with nice, warm water, and if desired, add just a drop or two of food coloring. The food coloring should dissipate in the bath water and won’t stain skin, but if you are hesitant, just leave it out, or float some filled water balloons in the dispenser to give the illusion of color. Run a warm bubble bath and add a few water balloons filled with warm water in the bathtub as well. (You’ll need to supervise if you add balloons, due to the potential choking hazard from popped balloons).
Children will have fun pouring tea from their pretend tea set and playing in the water. Again, really small children might need to be reminded that this tea is for pouring, not for drinking 🙂 Bubbles and water balloons make for some fun sensory play.
Bathtime can be a great opportunity for pretend and sensory play, and if you don’t mind mopping up a few puddles at the end of the day, it’s a great part of a playful bedtime routine as your youngster winds down for the day.
Visit Baby Bath Time for ideas on making bathtime a sensory experience for infants.
Featured image by Alexas_Fotos, via Pixabay
