Bath Time - Sebastopol, CA

Hello E.. Try a small plastic watering can. We have one and my 14 month old son loves to see and feel the water sprinkling out of it. Plus it comes in handy for rinsing the soap off of him,especially his head.

Just an idea.....I recently couldn't decide what to do with the sand toys we bought and were no longer using. Should I store them or chuck them and buy new next summer? So one day my husband grabs the sand bucket to rinse out my sons hair, and it became a hit. We put all the sand toys in with the bath toys now, and it's great! He has a lot of fun, esepcially with the bucket!

Good Luck!

I give my 15 month old a squeeze bottle so he can fill it up and squirt me, he thinks it's hilarious! I also use it to rinse his hair. Isn't bathtime the best? Have fun!

E., when I read your message the first thing which came to my mind was the plastic turkey baster. All of my children loved mastering this tool. It's great fine motor and great fun!
Have fun!

My kids have a blast with snap beads in the bath. You can fill them up, empty them out, and snap them together to make "trains" (a long line) or a "fence" (a circle) around the child. We have just the basic kind I remember playing with as a kid and, in 6 years, they've never gotten moldy or gross--just be sure you empty each one out after bath.
Also, those little plastic animals you get at parties, or in tubes of dinosaurs, farm animals, etc., are great fun for make-believe in the bath. We make zoos, line them up on the edge of the tub and knock them in, pretend they are going for swim lessons, etc.
Also, you can take an old margarine tub and poke small holes in the bottom (I do it with one of those metal turkey-lacer things), it's fun to fill and watch it sprinkle.
Have fun!

Seashells! I drove out to Jenner and bought beautiful seashells: conches, abalone, cowries, and other shells that were smooth, colorful, different sizes and shapes. My daughter loved playing with them, dunking and pouring...and in her imagination they could become ships, or cars or people or animals~ she would often use them to act out what had happened during her day.
The added bonus was that they looked so lovely in the bathroom during the rest of the day.
Years later some of them re-located to the sand box, but we still have a few by the tub.
Have fun, G.

My son loves to play with a turkey baster in the bath tub. We also buy bathtub crayons so he can color all over the walls. He also loves "Tub Tints" to change the color of the bath water. Sponges are great toys too.

A funnel and a water wheel

My 21mo son's favorite bath toys have always been anything we don't specifically buy for bath time. We do empty empty plastic bottles (different mouth sizes,) and measuring cups amongst other household items. I've given up wasting money on bath toys.
Good luck

wow! you got a lot of responses! i would just add that you should be careful before putting any coloring or paint in the bathtub. make sure it's nontoxic.
my 16 month old like playing with combs and brushes in the bathtub. also a rubber ball, if you can keep him from tossing it out of the tub! a clean sponge might also be fun, but he'll probably drink the water from it so make sure there's not a lot of soap or anything in the water.
have fun!

Dear E.,
My kids both loved anything from the kitchen to play with in the tub. You mentioned tupperware, but I also gave them ladles and measuring spoons and cups. They had little plastic pots and pans that I picked up here and there. They liked pretending they were cooking in the bath.
I did let my daughter try having a doll because she wanted to "give her baby a bath". However, the next morning, when she saw the head detached from the rest of the body because I had them draining upright on the faucets, she didn't want to wash her doll anymore.
I put the head back on and the doll survived.......

My son loved playing with little boats. And, they make the cutest wind up bath toys....little frogs and things. My son loved them! He would pretend they were chasing him and then he would feel sorry for them when they puttered out and then re-wind them. You'd be surprised how little kids can have that dexterity.

Bubbles and a wash rag....to be sure.

Of all the bath toys we have had, my daughter enjoys empty shampoo and body wash bottles the best! She fills and dumps them endlessly while she's in the tub. She can manipulate the screw on caps and is fascinated with "squirting" the water out.

How about a colander? They make great bath hats, too!

my kids like empty bottles and while bubbles are in there they like to have small plastic spoons (from their tea set)for scooping the bubbles into small wide caps (got these from Huggies shampoo). They pretend it's ice cream or put bubbles on their chin and pretend they are santa. Sometimes they'll take a doll or cars.

I no longer allow toys with holes at the bottom because of the mold that eventually grows in there.

The turkey baster is a favorite bath toy at our house.

im with alot of the other moms...plastic bottles! water bottles, old shampoo & bubble bath ones...& i go through their old toys, if they seem ok for the water i just toss it in! ive also given them old spoons & different utensils..plastic cups...

Speaking of Tupperware, there is a toy canoe that is new and really cute for the bathtub. It comes with the canoe (boat) and two people with life preservers -- really cute and the canoe opens up so the people can be stored inside. I am a Tupperware consultant if you are interested.

I didn't read all the responses, but mine love nail brushes. They "clean" the tub with them, my daughter used to teethe on them, and now that they are older (3 1/2 and 5 1/2), they can use them on their toes and fingers after digging in the dirt! I get them from the dollar store.

Hi E.,
I do use some household items as bath toys. They include measuring cups, plastic spoons, plastic cups (from a toy tea set) plastic funnels, plastic bottles--even used shampoo bottles (well rinsed out) . . . the funnels and bottles are great fun for kids who like to pour. I also have plastic droppers in there (like the kind you get from the pharmacy for giving young children liquid medicine). I use a spray de-tangler for my daughter's hair, and she actually loves playing with the bottle with the sprayer.
Have fun! ~N.~

I let the kids use play, plastic cups, plates and bowls. I think they originally came in a little clear backpack and weren't bath toys, but it's fun and it's easy to clean.

How about funnels & straws--esp. bendable ones? Also, I used to blow bubbles for my boy while he tried to catch them, etc. We also had lots of fun with tumblers, putting them in upside down to capture some air, then tipping them under the water to make big bubbles/noises. Have fun!

There are dolphin circles,dolphins that sit in little plastic circles. Each dolphin makes a different sound when you tap its head, so you can actually be a little musical.My kids played with those for years.
P

We've got animals that wind up, rubber letters that stick on the side of the tub, rubber duckies, but still the "toy" they love the best is any type of container (plastic cup, plastic storage dish) that they can fill up and dump out. . . over and over and over and over again. . .

Things from the kitchen are a big hit at our house. Funnels, spoons, colanders,and empty platic water bottles are a lot of fun. Have a blast!

hi E. - we put our mr potato head in there, too, because he is plastic and can go in the water -
anyhow, he's been an old standby for two years now! also, for kitchen stuff you can put in a plastic collander or funnel, they provide lots of exploration and entertainment :) good luck!

Mine loves the collander. lift it quick and watch the water pour out the holes. Sometimes when he's feeling brave he will let the water pour out on his head.

I tossed in a whisk for whipping up bubbles. Strainer to scoop out all those little birthday party toys she got. We still toss in the McD. toys. She still has her Nemo toys from years ago and they still work (light/sound).

s

Not sure if your son is interested or old enough but both my boys ( 7.5 yrs & 3 yrs) take Hot Wheels & Matchbox cars in the tub. It's their fav toy. Also,they both like those little tablets that color the water. My younger son likes to take in smallish-sized plastic cars & trucks. Wiffle balls are a hit, too. Try the $1 section at Target. I'm sure you'll find some fun toys there. Another mom suggested a whisk which I never thought of & is a great idea! I'll have to give my 3 yo one next time he's in the tub.

They love to play with the plastic water bottles that they fill up and pour out.

We rotate the toys. I have boats (we even have a pirate ship with a boat launch, and two water squirter buttons), plastic balls, waterproof doll with changeable waterproof clothes, Winnie The Pool Treehouse (has swing, boat launch, slide, water squirter button), foam alphabets/numbers which stick to the side of the tub (great for teaching the ABCs/123s), small syringe type water toys you find at Target, and colorful sea creature stickers that you normally would stick to the bottom of the bathtub to prevent slipping (only ours has suction cups instead of glue on them).

The nice thing about water squirter features in bath toys is that they don't launch water very far at all.

Hi E.,
My kids' favorite bath toys are empty shampoo, conditioner and body wash bottles. They love filling them with water, putting the caps back on and squirting the water out. Then you haven't had to buy an extra toy for the bath and won't feel bad about tossing it when it starts to get yucky. My girls love the different bottles things come in and always wait for the cool ones to get empty so they can have them!
-J.

My kids like playing with funnels and any type of cup/water bottle. They also like to play with sand toys in the tub.
D.

My son loves these plastic measuring cups. I did just see a cute little basketball set thing I'm gonna pick up too!

Bath time is a great time to get our kids' hand eye coordination going! I give my kids cooking funnels, large spoons, and measuring cups with the handles to fine tune their motor skills. These are also very easy to clean/disinfect! Have fun! - C.

The plastic turkey baster is a big hit, also my son likes to pretend his washcloth (navy blue) is a Manta Ray after our trip to the aquarium at Pier 39.

There are also bath paints too, which is nice because they can let out their artistic side without it ending up all over the walls in other rooms of the house.
There are bath crayons.
There are spoons and bowls (pretend cooking) and I love the idea of using farm animals and stuff too to pretend play- if you do swimming lessons like the other person suggested you might be able to teach them through that too. Great idea.
I am a big fan of stacking cups, but not rubber ducky kind of toys just because they dry easier and you dont have to remember to squeeze them out every time.
Hope this helps.