Top 10 Sensory Bath Time Ideas
Bath time should always be a relaxing time before bed which helps to soothe your baby or child into their restful sleep. It can help them to remember their familiar night time routine of bath, pyjamas, story, bed and cuddles. This familiar night-time routine can give them a sense of reassurance and comfort every day.
However, some toddlers can get restless or bored after only a short time in the bath which isn’t conductive to helping them to wind down after a busy day of playing and learning. So I have tried lots of different approaches and I have found that the below suggestions and products have helped me to encourage my children to enjoy their bath time more and to enjoy the moment! I hope you will find them useful suggestions for your little ones too.
Below are my top ten sensory bath ideas for babies and toddlers which I hope that you will also find helpful. These ideas are aimed at children ages 3 and up. Although lots of the toys can be used from birth with supervision too.
Just as adults like singing in the shower, music in the bathroom can also be a wonderful way for babies to feel soothed and calm before bed too! Use a shower radio speaker to play relaxing classical music to your baby whilst they wind down for bed time in the bath. Here in the UK, I use a station called Classic FM.
With this Rainbow coloured, light up Bluetooth Speaker, you link up your mobile phone to play music through it.
Why not devise a ‘bath time’ track list of songs whether that is lullabies, your favourite vocal ballads or gentle piano music. I am a trained classical musician and have lots of suggestions if you are unsure where to start with classical music. Try exploring composers such as Chopin, Bach, Handel and Debussy and especially Mozart’s piano sonatas. Try works for flute and harp as well as strings.
However, always respond to your baby’s reaction to the music, if they seem calm when listening and raise a smile then this is a great sign! Remember though that just like adults they might not always be in the mood for music but they can’t yet articulate this, so always judge whether to have music on by their physical and vocal responses to it.
Bath foam has got to be a classic sensory bath toy and is probably the first one that most of us think of when we use the word ‘sensory‘ around bath time. Not only is it fun to mould into shapes and play with, it is also soap at the end of the day too which can only help to make your child extra clean!
You can get scented ones in a range of colours. Coloured bath foam is a regular staple in our bath-time routine! (Usually we find that they make white, pink, blue and yellow bath foam. But let me know if you find other colours too!)
Always consider your baby’s skin type and if they have sensitive skin then bath foam might not be for them. Most toddlers should be fine around bath foam but always read the label and check with your doctor if you are unsure.
Bath foam is generally safe past the teething stage after your baby has stopped putting things in their mouth, but you could keep it in your hands to let them reach and explore the texture from approximately age one and up.
Just as children love making their own bath bomb kits, have you also heard of making your own soap kits too?
I only discovered this D.I.Y glitter soap set in the last year or so, but my daughter absolutely loves it! It basically helps your children to make their very own soaps for the bath! It is an activity to make well in advance of bath time and is recommended for ages seven and over.
Although with adult supervision, your children can still enjoy helping to assist you in making the soaps.
It comes with a range of colour ways for your personalised soaps and can keep your children calm and occupied for ages in the bath.
Like a normal soap, it will eventually melt slightly when used but it is firm enough to hold it’s shape for a good while. The instructions were clear and easy to follow to make the soaps too. Adding the glitter is optional as well.
Whilst your children are playing with their glitter soaps, they are also cleaning their hands and working on developing their fine motor skills too without realising! Win!
This soap set would make a lovely gift as well.
These foam alphabet letters and numbers are just such a fantastic bath toy addition. Not only can your children spell letters with them and try to do basic sums, they can also play games with the letters, hide and seek with the letters and numbers in bath foam and fishing for letters with toys or a fishing rod. We love these and they provide a valuable learning experience too!
I would highly recommend these foam alphabet letters and numbers to encourage letter and number recognition through play and for all children to enjoy!
Glow sticks are a fantastic sensory bath toy for older children and can really help to create an atmosphere of calm and tranquillity in the bath.
Combined with some soothing flute music playing, your children will see bath time in a completely different light! Talking of lights, we dim the main bath room light switch slightly too when using glow sticks to add to the sensory experience.
We use glow sticks sparingly and as a special treat for bath time play as of course they aren’t great for the environment. Instead of glow sticks you may prefer the following sensory light-up duck below.
If you want to steer clear of glow sticks, then there are lots of other toys that glow in the dark that are suitable for the bath. If you buy a good quality plastic toy it can still last for years to come. We were gifted this cool glow in the dark bath time duck toy and it also lights up too.
Once the battery goes, this is non-replaceable as it is sealed in waterproofing. However, it will always glow in the dark and this can be a great sensory toy for children to play with in the bath at any age.
Fishing games are great for children and encourage their focus and concentration levels. I love that they don’t require batteries and will last for years too. We have a fishing rod with ducks game and it is great to watch your children catch a duck that was hiding in some bubbles! They can use the fishing rod toy for the foam alphabet letters and numbers too. Hours of fun!
Some kits are magnetic like the one above, whilst other fishing rod bath kits will simply have hooks for children to loop the rod through. These kits provide slightly more of a challenge and greater concentration levels than the magnetic kits so perhaps consider this factor when purchasing.
Bath crayons are fantastic and one of the first bath toys I bought my children back in the day. As long as your child is past the ‘putting-everything-in-their-mouth’ stage then bath crayons could be a great addition to your child’s bath time routine! You will be encouraging their creativity and fine motor skills holding crayons too!
From trying to draw their name or encouraging them to write simple sums right through to drawing a colourful picture, bath crayons can expand your child’s creativity in a calming and soothing way.
Certainly, there can be mess on the tiles and sides of the bath afterwards, but as long as you just give your bath tub a quick wipe down after use, it never builds up too much, even a quick spray with the shower attachment can usually loosen up their artistic masterpieces from the tiles.
Naturally, bath crayons will last much longer when you rotate them with other toys such as the bath foam or glow sticks too.
Rotating the bath toys helps to keep the bath toys exciting and engaging for your child as well.
I love this water pump bath toy as it comes with cups and a rotating water wheel!
My daughter first played with this toy from about age one and a half upwards and it is still used today nearly three years later! I find it sticks well to the bath tiles and although you have to press quite firmly on the eye area to get the water out, an adult can easily help supervise this part until your child can do it for themselves.
I loved that this Baby Bath Water Toy came with so many other toys in one. It’s a real bargain and a bath toy to last for years to come that I would highly recommend for a fun sensory bath experience!
Mostly all children love bath bombs but these can get expensive with repeated use. I really like these bath dropz because you get 60 tablets in a container which is really great value for money, not to mention far less waste in terms of packaging for the environment (as you probably know some bath bombs can come individually wrapped in plastic).
With these Crayola Color Bath Dropz, all the tablets are contained in one handy tube! Great for taking a few in your children’s travel bag to the grandparents or for a hotel stay as well!
Changing the colour of your children’s bath water with these Crayola Color Bath Dropz can act as a great incentive for them to get in the bath! It is a lovely sensory experience for them to explore different coloured water. I use these bath dropz and have also tried some fizzy bath crayons from Boots which are very good too.
Don’t be alarmed that the colours look quite dark in the pot as they lighten up in the water. We prefer to add two or three tablets to get a more intense colour as you may find the colour slightly weaker with just one tablet.
You can mix the red and yellow together to make orange and mix the blue and red tablets to get purple. Always store them out of reach of children too.
Bonus Suggestion.. have you every tried Gelli Baff? If you want a really messy and fun sensory bath experience, then Gelli Baff is for you! (It’s by a brand called ‘Zimply Kids‘ who do a great range of different sensory bath textures too).
It is a powder that you add to the bath and it turns the water into a sludge-like texture! I have only included this suggestion as a bonus because it is very messy and might not be for everyone as it doesn’t exactly leave things clean!
My children enjoy using Gelli Baff as a sensory bin texture to submerge toys in. It lasts for ages too in an air tight box and you can make as little or as much as you like.
To dispose of it you simply add the other powdered sachet provided and it turns back into water!
I hope that some of these fun sensory bath toy suggestions have given you ideas to help make your child’s bath time an even more fun, sensory experience!
