Bath Toys

Little kids don’t really need many bath toys to have a blast in the tub. The water itself is novelty enough! Playing a few splashing games with mom or dad, getting a gentle scrub-down in the meantime is enough to make bath time a hit with most babies. But you can enhance the play experience and add even more educational value by choosing a few fun little bath toys.

There are so many childrens educational toys available for bath time that the biggest challenge might be choosing which ones you want. Here are a few questions to ask when choosing childrens educational toys that will be a real hit at bath time.

1. Does it blow bubbles?
Children love, and I mean love those little bath toys that blow bubbles or squirts foam when properly filled with water and a little soap. They will try this one over and over.

2. Can it swim?
There are little wind-up bath toys that propel themselves through the water, sometimes in a crazy zigzag, otherwise, with an adjustable rudder to set them on a gentle curve. Whether it’s a little boat shape or fish shape or something else, there is an unending fascination for kids as they watch it take off buzzing across the water. They’ll chase it down and grab it back and look at it, let it swim some more and then quickly hand it to you to wind again when it runs down.

3. Does it squirt?
Whether it’s little rubber Ellie the Elephant that squirts a gentle stream through her trunk, or something more along the lines of the traditional water pistol, kids LOVE toys that squirt, and will definitely take aim at mom or dad. Choose something that has a pretty short range and more of a “mist” pattern than a real stream.

4. Does it involve filling and pouring?
You’d be amazed at the thrill factor of a simple watering can. Kids love to see and touch the water coming out split into multiple streams. It seems to have some kind of magic to them. They will fill and pour over and over.

5. Does it have moving parts?
You can buy childrens educational toys that whir and spin as water is poured through a chute past one or more water wheels. Kids enjoy this too, though the watering can seems to have more lasting appeal.

6. Is it a rubber duck?
Every bath has to have to have a rubber duck, one of the classic bath toys.

7. Is there a surprise inside?
There are little expandable washcloths or sponges. They come in a small gelatin capsule which melts to reveal a colorful washcloth or a fun, animal-shaped sponge. Not as dramatic as they are advertised to be, but still they have a certain charm.

8. Can I color on the walls?
For the very brave parent… there are special soap “crayons” which will write on the walls of a bathtub or shower and safely rinse away afterwards. (I wouldn’t want to set a precedent, myself. Not enough of a difference in a child’s mind between the “bath crayons” and the “paper crayons” or permanent markers or whatever other writing utensils might come their way after they had been shown what a nice blackboard a shower wall makes).