Bath Toys - Dewitt,MI

I know what you mean! Squirt toys are gross...I decided that re-using squirt bottles of all sizes from condiments works much better (big ketchup ones, littler ones from mustards, etc). She loves them. I just make sure they are washed out well and the label is off before they go in the tub, and they are easy to dump the water out of after a bath and sit upside down on angle to dry. She simply loves to have a few plastic spoons, a ladle, and some old plastic containers in the tub. The only real "tub toys" she gets do not have squirty features! :) We end up throwing them away, and they are not recyclable at all-- just landfillable...which I can't stand.

Oh, another thing that works well are the musical instruments for the tub that they sell. Kids love making noise in the tub, so it might as well be loud and musical as far as I am concerned! :)

As with the others we use empty plasctic squirt catsup, mustard, and relish bottles, old shampoo bottles, etc...

My son also uses his varity of plastic pokemon figures, and those fun little green army guys do do battle!

The vinegar solution works oh so well, tried and true.

Debbie

If you mix a dab of food coloring with liquid soap, you can let him paint on the walls of the tub and it will magically clean right up. My daughters LOVE it.

My kids love to pour things and my daughter loves to make "soup" in the bathtub. Try small plastic cups and a small ladle if you have one. otherwise spoons work well too.

I was my bath toys in the dishwasher to help with the slime, but if they are too bad I throw them out.

R.,

I have found that the best tub toys are empty shampoo bottles or any empty plastic bottle. Its even more fun to fill the empty bottle up with water and a few drops of food coloring, and let the child watch as you dump it into the tub, imagine taking a bath in green or red water! Also fun is to mix the colors. 2 empty shampoo bottles with a different color in each pour one in each end of the tub and watch them mix in the middle, right around the baby, very exciting!

I never cared for the squirt type tub toys that could get water stuck inside them, it always seemed kind of gross to have that same water stuck in there for who knows how long, instead look in the toy box, any solid plastic toys that wont hurt to get wet? That way you can change things around when baby gets bored of the current toys.

Combs and brushes are fun as long as they dont have any pointy ends. I have even given my boys an old make up brush to play with in the tub. Shaving cream can be fun if you know they wont eat it.

I have also frozen some water and food coloring in an old cool whip container to make a big ice cube and put it in the tub at bath time, just for something unusual. The cool whip container would be fun in the tub too. Also the caps to laundry detergent bottles make good tub toys too.

A bottle of bubbles is fun too, you can blow bubbles while your in the tub.

Just look around the house with an eye towards something that is plastic that can get wet, isn't sharp or pointy, and big enough not to be a choking hazard. Look in your kitchen and bathroom cupboards, I'll bet your suprised at what you find.

My daughter loves this tugboat bath toy I bought from target, I know you wanted household items but only thing we use like that is a soft cup she likes to dump water with the cup. But the toy doesnt have the squirt toys that get all gross..its neat they are solid little animals and so easy to clean I just soak them a hot soapy water with a dash of vinegar and they dont get all slimy(spelling doesnt look right on that ?)

Hi R.! For the squirt toys, I would use a solution of vinegar and water to soak them in and then also to rinse out the inside. This really helps and it is a natural way to get rid of the grime without using harsh bleaches or cleaning products. We have hard water at our house and I run vinegar through our dish washer and coffe maker on occassion to get rid of the build up. As far as toys go, you could go to the dollar store and buy some sponges (or take some from around the house that haven't been used) and cut different shapes out of them...squares, circles, triangles, hearts, diamonds, stars...etc. The different colors and shapes can be educational and also fun to stick to the side of the tub. Hope this helps!

Do you have any plastic cups or small tupperware containers? Those would give him something to do.

Great ideas but I am not about to take the time to soak my kids' bath toys after every bath...LOL! Like I don't have enough to do! I avoid the squirt toys just for that reason. My kids like cups, plastic blocks, matchbox cars (I know, they are metal), plastic action figures or farm animals, plain old tupperware is a hit, too. They like to play with the washcloths, too but I have no idea why! :)

~L.

my 17 month old loves to play with the cap to my shave gel. she put water in it and dumps it out.

foam letters/numbers/shapes that stick to the wall....very easy to keep clean too
my kids literally were happy with plastic bowls and cups too...
and sorry....those squirty toys are gross....and there's no way to get that gunk out that i've found...

Household Bath Toys: Stacking cups, plastice cups, sponges, many toys that can get wet, empty butter dishes, sand toys.

As for cleanup: A rinse with vinegar can help that.

For toy cleanup in general: Most of my duaghters toys make it through the dishwasher eventually...tea sets, bath toys, even toothbrushes and comb and brushes. Great and easy way to sanitize!

Everyone has already said it but just to reiterate... Plastic cups and ladels are great. Teri had really good ideas (I'm going to try the food coloring) My 14 month old likes the empty shampoo bottles for squirting then I can just toss in recyling bin and use the next empty one.

All the ideas are great!

My daughter loves to play with her polly pockets in the tub. And my son loves to play with the hard animal toys. The little green army guys would be good too.

You've recieved some great ideas for "household" toys. As far as the squirting toys, I always make sure they're completely empty and I soak them in a bleach solution every other week. If I can't empty them to my satisfaction, they end up in the trash.

Here are a few ideas:

measuring cups
small bowls or cups
a rubber or plastic ball that doesn't have any holes in it
play kitchen items

Blessings,
A.

1. funnels and 2 liter pop bottles with various scoops - let your child figure out the use of the funnel, don't show
2. food coloring in the water makes all old toys seem new again
3. turkey baster and some kind of floating target
4. bubble bath with the kitchen whisk to stir up more bubbles
5. all the dishes you would use to bake cupcakes and pretend to make cupcakes in the tub - do this after your child watches you make real cupcakes for more realistic play
6. collander with bubble water or with floating toys to catch
7. poke various number of holes in the bottom of old plastic yogurt containers and watch how the water empties out the bottom at various speeds
8. small shallow plastic tupperware used as boats - how much can you put in it before it sink
9. give plastic dolls a bath or have a car wash with toy cars and some wash rags or bring the play dishes or any plastic dishes in the tub to pretend to wash like the grown ups

Don't buy bath toys. There's so much fun stuff around the house to experiment with in the water.

My kids love spray water bottles, cups and empty shampoo bottles (little trial size ones are best) in the bath tub. They are both older (3 & 5) - but these have been the favorites by far for a long time. They actually prefer these because they can dump the water out and create a bigger splash. They're also easier to keep clean. The cup just dries itself. The empty shampoo bottles I tip upside down on an angle (so that part of the opening is exposed) so that all the water flows out and it airs out. If the spray bottle is empty you can do the same, I just usually leave water in it though.

We re-use the taco bell cups (the big plastic ones) for lots of stuff including as a toy in the tub. We also have a few "baby" toys that were grown out of as play toys but are solid plastic so we now use them in the tub.

Plastic keys
a couple of balls
cups of all sizes & shapes
etc.

Just go through your house. If it won't get ruined by getting wet or soak up water and isn't too big it can be put in the bath!