Every afternoon I look forward to 5pm … not only because that is a socially acceptable time to grab a glass of wine (haha) but because that is when our kids come inside and begin bath time!
In my mind it is the end of the day and signals the beginning of a nice predictable routine leading toward the holy grail … BEDTIME! I put some effort into making bath time fun and keeping it interesting because having them happy and confined for 30 minutes or so was actually quite a relief. It often allowed me to get some things done while still supervising them safely.
So here are 5 simple and cheap ways to make bath time awesome and buy yourself some time:
Toys
One of the simplest things that almost everyone has tried is to have some toys in the bath for your toddler to play with. To keep it interesting though we have theme baths and we allow the little one to choose. Limited choice is one of the genius parenting ideas that a friend gave me with my first born. Allowing the child to pick between 2 or 3 options that I offer ensures that everyone is happy and helps them feel in control.
This works brilliantly with the theme baths … Dinosaur Bath, Octonauts Bath or Space Bath?? This is a common question at 5pm in our house lol. Just beware of toys that can damage the bath, anything with batteries or electrical parts is definitely to be avoided and metal or moving parts can be damaged by the water too. Cheap rubber or plastic animals were favourites with all of mine.
Painting, Letters and Stickers
There are special bath paints that you can buy but I stumbled across this alternative by accident and it has become an often requested bath activity now. I used shaving cream to draw an animal on the tiles just above the bath and then gave my child a cheap art paint brush which they used to paint in the shaving cream. Surprisingly this always resulted in a happy bath but it’s important to test products on your child’s skin and to supervise the activity carefully.
We also had a set of foam alphabet letters and numbers that stuck to the side of the bath when wet and they were well loved. We would help the children group them in colours at first. As they learned more they could begin to find letters and order them or even spell simple words. Some shops sell bath stickers in theme packs that allow kids to make stories and scenes too … these can be fun.
Pouring and Floating
A super simple idea is to grab a couple of jugs, measuring cups or bowls from the kitchen drawers and put them in the bath for your little one to play with. It is fun and at some level educational to pour and tip water between them. They can also play with floating them and even pushing them under the water upside down and releasing the air as bubbles.
If you are concerned about hygiene issues with this then it only costs a few dollars to buy some designated bath containers from a bargain shop or supermarket.
Colours
I am always amazed at how a small change can make a big difference for kids. Rather than clear bath water (when they start haha) try adding some food colouring to the water. Once again I generally had a whole packet just for the bathroom and allowed my child to choose the colour. If you are bathing more than one child, then the first one in got to pick the colour (motivation!) and we rotated that around. Another awesome idea is to freeze coloured ice-cubes and allow them to release the food colour as they melt.
Bubbles
Bubbles are another easy and age old solution to bath time fun. Just pour some in while running the bath and it magically entertains haha … my kids loved it even as they got older. Throw in the odd bubble bath beard competition and you have a simple idea that extends bath time for you.
Combine the colours and bubbles or try different colours at each end and predict the resulting mixed colour. The opportunities are endless J
Safety
No matter what you decide on to entertain your kids, it’s crucial to remember that baths are dangerous places and care must be taken. There are the obvious risks of the water, slipping and falling risks and sometimes electrical supply nearby so please supervise your children carefully to keep them happy and safe.
It’s also important to choose products that are clinically proven to be gentle & mild and with so many options on the market, take some time to explore exactly what is in the products you use. Formulas also change from time to time as they are improved so be sure to check regularly. As well as using the INCI labelling system which ensures that proper ingredient names are listed, Johnson’s have recently developed a fantastic information website to make it easy for parents to discover exactly what is in each of their products.
If you would like to know more about particular products or read about all of the ingredients, head over to The Simple Truth.
