Creative Bathtime Play Ideas for Toddlers

By Alissa Marquess Zorn on June 12, 2012 (updated February 3, 2022)

After writing my post on helping a toddler who is afraid of the bath, I added a list of bathtime toys for toddlers to make maths more fun, but I kept on thinking about a fellow blogger I know who writes these neat posts about sensory themed baths. I wondered if she would share some creative bath ideas with us, and here she is!

Hello, my name is Crystal, and I am so excited to be guest posting here today!

I am the writer of Growing A Jeweled Rose, a play based website where I share play and learning activities for small children. One of our favorite ways to explore and play is during bath time. Given our love of bath time, and Alissa’s recent struggles with bath time fear, I thought it would be helpful to share a few bath tips.

Do you have a little one who is afraid of the bath? I hope you find these tips helpful! If not, hopefully you will still try some of these ideas just for fun!

Make the bath a fun place without water.

If your child is afraid of bathtime, perhaps presenting it in a new and different way will help. Being given the opportunity to explore the bath in a fun way without the added element of water is a great way for a child to grow to trust that the bath is a safe place. In the photo above, we explored with GOOP in the bath.

Distract them from the intended purpose of bathtime.

Presenting your little one with a fun activity during bath time could help take their mind off of any fears they might have. It might even end up building excitement, and in turn, making bath time a favorite time of the day for your child. Here, my girls were given glowing homemade bath paint to explore with.

Make bathtime appeal to your child’s current interests.

My daughter is really enamored by the sky, so I recently created this Outer Space themed bath.

Some other fun bath times I have created based on my daughters interests are a Princess bath, a Rain Forest bath (for my Dora fan), and an Ocean Sensory Bath.

Making bathtime appeal to your child’s current interests would certainly aid in their desire and willingness to face their fears and give bathtime a try.

Let them collect and choose a variety of toys to take to the bath that are not normally part of bathtime.

Getting them involved in the process like this may help to alleviate any reservations they might have about bathtime. It is another great way to make bathtime fun, and helps to build excitement.

If you have a little one with bathtime fears, I hope you find these tips helpful. If your child is not afraid of the bath, then I still hope you will try these fun bath ideas, and have fun!

I would love for you to drop by Growing A Jeweled Rose and check out some of the other fun playtimes we have shared. We especially love sensory play, things that glow, and getting messy!

Lastly, I would like to thank Creative with Kids for the Opportunity to guest post here today! It has been such an honor!

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Crystal is currently staying home with her two small children, Jewel and Rosie. She firmly believes in the value and importance of play, and strives to make the most of everyday. She loves coming up with fun and creative playtimes ,and sharing them on her play based website, Growing A Jeweled Rose.

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11 Comments

Jennifer

Jun 10 at 3:19 pm

In addition to Monday Kid Corner Weekly Linky Party, this week’s theme is WATER. Brush off those archives and link them up at thejennyevolution.com. See you there! Jennifer
tasterspoon

Jul 10 at 1:20 pm

These look so fun! Keeping the focus off her and keeping it light is a great idea. The other night we set up all the supplies: shampoo and soap and toothbrushes and washcloths, and shocked our reluctant 20 month old daughter by asking whether SHE wanted to give her BABY DOLL a bath. She was all over it, and it was not long before she climbed in to get closer to the action.
Veronica

Jun 12 at 7:11 pm

I absolutely love doing things like this with my daughters. How much fun would the be! I’ve been inspired to try one of these tomorrow for my daughters. They will love it.