Bath Time

Making bath time fun.

My boys are so different when it comes to the bath, My oldest Sam absolutely loves it, he would spend hours in there if he could, however my youngest Oliver only tolerates it if you promise not to wash his hair. If you mention hair he will lose the plot and will scrabble to get out of the bath, so Ali and I have been looking at ways to make bath time more fun.

1. Empty Bottles

The first option was to keep all the empty bottles we used, once they had been cleaned out, we gave them to the boys. Well they learnt how to fill them, laughed at the bubbles they created and smiled at the waterfalls they poured. It was brilliant, until Sam poured water over Oliver's head and that was game over for Oliver!! doh!!

However, the next night, Oliver choose the bottles again to go into the bath. Whooo Hooo :)

My kids just absolutely love empty bottles! We’ve spent money on bath toys before, but they always choose to play with empties! Especially if they have pumps or dispensers on them. They make their own ‘potions’! Victoria from Https://www.lyliarose.com

A simple plastic jug from the pound shop. Hours of fun. Maybe they're easily pleased 😆 Erica Knight from Www.theincidentalparent.com

We made “waterfalls” by pouring bath water into the bath using an empty shampoo bottle. Although mine are 2 and 4. Éva Katona from Https://www.captainbobcat.com

2. Bathing Together
Until the boys say they don't want to share a bath, they will continue to do so and so far they love it. Sam loves to show his brother how to do things like placing your head under the water and coming up covered in bubbles. This is something that Sam has only just found the confidence in to do himself but Oliver is loving trying to copy his big brother.

Unfortunately Sam has also taught Oliver its fun to "perp" (fart) in the bath and Oliver amazingly now seems to save them up until he gets in!! The joy of young children and their love of wind!!

For my boys at the moment (4 months and 2 years) they have the most fun when they're bathed together. There are always lots of giggles from both of them and I get drenched from all the splashing. Leah from  www.homefamilylife.co.uk

3. Bubble Machine
Oliver loves bubbles. Whenever you stop blowing them, he bounces up and down and shouts "more!" So I decided to decided to dig out the bubble machine. (Don't worry its battery operated not electric)

The boys really enjoyed watching the bathroom fill up with bubbles. The bubbles popped as they hit the shower or the side of the bath. They popped them themselves and laughed as more and more kept coming. It was tricky to keep them from standing up and I kept having to turn off the machine to wipe eyes after the bubble mixture got in them or just to let the room empty of bubbles.

This is definitely an activity we will repeat :)

4. Glow Sticks

This is one of our favourites!! Bathing in the dark with just glow sticks for light. I am not talking expensive ones but the packet from the pound shop.

Once we have cracked the glow sticks and got the boys in, we turn off the lights and close the blind and the light from the sticks glows through the water.

The boys experiment by placing the sticks in different bottles and watching what happens to the light.

They also make bracelets and necklaces or headbands with them. Once the boys have finished playing with them, the like them to be hung from their lampshades in the bedrooms as they go off to sleep.

5. Waterproof light
On suggestion from several Parenting bloggers I purchased a bath disco light. Well my goodness, the boys were so excited and loved it.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B015N34UW2/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I also took their advice and stuck it to the side of the bath and didn't place it directly in the water as I understand a lot of them are failing after getting them wet for the first time. Ours is still going strong, thankfully.

Once stuck to the side of the bath, I pulled the blind so it went dark in the bathroom. I switched the light on and the colour explosion started. Both boys loved it. The light spread across the water and created a disco atmosphere. I put the cd player on outside the bathroom and the dancing and singing commenced.

We have underwater colour changing lights that suction onto the side of the bath Rebecca-Helen from @theeverydaymummy

Turn off the lights and have a disco bath. There is a cheap bath/ water light you can buy on eBay Jemma Goulds from https://thimbleandtwig.com/

Other ideas that were suggested are:

Bath paint and crayons work well for us at bath time. Plus they wash off. Jade Brenner from Https://www.jadeslongjourney.co.uk

Amy has always been obsessed with bath bombs, bath salts and everything else that adds some oomph to a plain bath. Lush has been her favourite shop since she was 2. She loves it! Carolin Mader from http://www.mummyalarm.co.uk

Water pistols. It can mean you get slightly wet too, but the kids love it! Pete Chatfield from www.householdmoneysaving.com

Mine love the face puzzles where you add facial features to make different faces - they’ve loved them for years!! Emma Maslin from Https://themoneywhisperer.co.uk

We use the moulding clay from Lush or bath bombs. We've made our own bath bombs too, it's so much fun! Kelly Allen from www.kellyallenwriter.com

Bath letter and numbers. My son has endless fun rearranging the letters into different words. It can keep him entertained for ages! Polly Basak from  www.ourseasidebaby.com 

Jelly bath... lush do some gorgeous bath bombs that turn jelly like and fun soap so you can make models. My son loves playing with the 'sleep' jelly.. anything that combines fun with natural ingredients and sends kids off into a relaxed slumber is a winner for me! Melanie Cossins from Www.cossinsmusicschool.co.uk/blog

Bubble bars from lush or other shops, they draw on tiles like crayons but if u break a bit off and put in a sieve and run water through it it’s bubble bath too! Vicki Louise Hurrell from
Www.Mummaandhermonsters.Com