How to Make Bath Time Fun for a Toddler

Why does giving a toddler a bath feel like such an ordeal? The risk of head injury when they are wet and slippery comes to mind. And there’s always the risk of, um, contamination before they’re fully potty trained. But a bath can also be a good reset and time filler. You just have to make bath time fun for your toddler! Here are a few strategies I’ve had success with over the years.

Add Bath Toys

Yes, toddler bath toys can get gross quickly. But they are easy to swap out fairly frequently depending on interest and season. I love this adorable vehicle set—the school bus makes it perfect for back-to-school season, especially if big siblings will be taking the bus. These Christmas ducks are hilarious. (Ok, they might only be hilarious to me because my college roommates and I collected and exchanged theme ducks…you had to be there. But I think a toddler would like them.) This fish set comes with nets to make it extra fun for summer. Bath toys can make a great stocking stuffer or Easter basket treasure too.

Add Regular Toys

I have to give credit to Susie, aka Busy Toddler, for turning bathtime into activity time. Susie is Internet famous for the Popsicle Bath, which I admit is not my favorite of her ideas. (Food in the bathroom gives me the ick, even though I fully recognize that the bathtub is probably the easiest place to hand a toddler a popsicle.)

Susie also suggests putting Duplos in the bath. They float! Some, like this Peppa Pig boat set, are even intended for water play. But any Duplos will work. My girls loved this when they were little. And they are super easy to clean up. Just put them on a towel and make sure they are flipped the right direction to drain. The kids can even help.

Another hit from Susie is a pom-pom bath. We had a Ziploc bag full of pom poms that we frequently used when we followed Susie’s homeschool preschool curriculum. When Susie suggested dumping them in the bath, I was skeptical. What if we had to spend another $2.99 to replace them? But the girls loved them. And I followed Susie’s super easy instructions for drying them (in a pillowcase in the dryer), and they are still going strong.

Inspired by Susie, we’ve also added toys from the play kitchen to the bath at various times. Plastic plates and cups are great for scooping and stirring, and everything dries as good as new. (Don’t believe me? Ask the dishes! Sorry. Couldn’t resist.)

Let Them Help

My little guy isn’t always a huge fan of baths. But like most toddlers, he likes to be in control. It’s amazing how much happier he is if I just give him his own washcloth. He also loves to be in charge of a bar of soap. Yes, it can be frustrating when it takes him eleventy tries to get it back where it goes. But at least his hands are getting extra clean. He also really loves to try to squeeze the extra water out of the washcloths. It’s probably good for his motor skills.

Get the Cute Towels

Is there anything cuter than a freshly washed toddler wrapped up in a towel with a silly animal hood? Absolutely not. Who cares if the pink bunny doesn’t match the décor? You do? Ok fine, get the soft earth tones. The kid will still be adorable.

Don’t Stress About Frequency

When my oldest kid was little, I went through a phase of trying to incorporate bathtime into her bedtime routine. The problem was that I was pregnant and exhausted by bedtime. So I was usually trying to cajole my husband into handling it, which he didn’t particularly want to do either. Finally, he convinced me that there was no reason this needed to be part of the bedtime routine, no matter what whatever book I’d read had said.

She liked baths in general, but they weren’t necessarily relaxing her. They were a fun activity that she might be done with in three minutes or might stretch to thirty. Having them be part of the evening routine when we just wanted to go to bed ourselves was not necessary. It’s not like she was digging in the dirt every day. We scrapped it and had more energy for reading a picture book or two before bed.

My current toddler could probably stand to be bathed more often. We went through a phase where he went straight into the tub after dinner most nights. But he’s a lot better at getting the food in his mouth these days. He also went through a phase where he didn’t enjoy the bath and would only put up with it if I let him stand the whole time. We worked with it, but it took baths out of our “fun activity” rotation for a while.

These days, he generally likes baths. We also had to increase the frequency when he went through the rub-food-in-hair phase. But they definitely aren’t a daily activity. And that’s ok. He’s just going to get messy again anyway. I’m sure the days will come when I beg him to treat bathing as a daily activity. For now, if it’s been a few days, I can toss in some Duplos and make it fun. We’ll save the popsicle for right before the next one.

Is bath time fun for your toddler? What do you do to turn it into a day-saving activity? Let me know in the comments—I love hearing from you! (But if you like to eat in the bathroom, I don’t want to know about it.)

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