Fun Baths: The Preschool Roundup

We've entered a new stage in our fun baths in the last year or so.  While our toddler baths round-up usually had me jumping in so I could bathe her and bond with her, now she's learning to take baths on her own.  Two completely honest words about this : THANK GOD.

Surprisingly, it's possible to have thirty minutes while the kids have more fun without you - thanks to simple ideas and a preschooler's growing imagination.  

Our new "tools" are old ones.  We still have these bath crayons and they are ten times more useful now that Ladybug Girl can draw and write better.

We finally found bath crayons in Manila at ELC - not my favourite store but at least it's here!

I like to leave something on her shower walls for her to discover at bath time.

Connect-the-dots practice for handwriting

An attempt to practice handwriting.  But she drew her answer.

Her favorite ninang's storytelling in the bathroom

Recently practicing her memorisation of the number bonds of 10.
(See why here, a beginning math round-up that was featured on livingmontesorinow.com/facebook!)

It's what we bring along when we travel to hotel bathrooms.  And if the floatie fits, take it into the tub!

Our poor man's bath tub has been a perfect play area.  All it is a knee-high tiled wall instead of a shower door.  It was my parents-in-law's idea and it was genius!

I put the drain plug in and let the water run for five minutes before I call her.
Once she sees the water collecting, she can't get her clothes off fast enough

The wall also holds in messes (is that a word) and becomes a ledge for play.

Bathing her gift from one of her Ninsies with an empty bath bottle.
(This pink Johnson's Baby bath variant is going to be phased out soon so I'm hoarding this fave.

Making potions or what have you with a few containers and food colouring diluted in spray bottles.
We use it to colour the bath water sometimes too!  I keep the spray bottles stored in those shower shelves.

 If you don't have food colouring, use a washable marker.  Yup, you heard me.

Save those nearly-dried out markers for some really colourful baths.  They'll love it!
Here we used a blue and green marker to colour the water.

Freedom to draw on the walls!

Isn't that a great colour of potion?

To make the most of each marker, break off the tip with some pliers to expose more of the ink nib:

You don't have to, but it intensifies the colour by about three times!

Suggest some small-world play or leave it to their imaginations:

She wanted to make the sea and drew some seaweed. 

Then lots of storytelling

And help cleaning off the crayon art with a sponge (also kept handy on the shower shelves)

 Waste not-want not!  Keep those marker caps too!

Makes great "pasta" for cooking

Sometimes the grandaddy of ideas strikes when you think like a child.  Does yours love baking as much as mine?  Mine loves watching how-to videos on You Tube.

Ice-a-Cake in the bath!

Put in her plastic stools as tables, Make icing out of shaving cream and food colouring, Find something to stand-in as a cake (this wooden cake base is on its third life so I didn't mind it getting wet), Add a spatula et voila! 

Doesn't that look like fun!

Disclaimer: the red patches on her skin was from adult sunscreen that I put on her after I forgot the baby one at home.  It's not from the shaving cream.  Although I wouldn't let it stay on skin for long either.

Even more fun: using your hands and loving the sensorial feel of squishy shaving foam

I brought in a plastic bowl from the kitchen, turned it upside down and it got iced as the cake base.  

And she decorated with her bath toys.

Here's the cupcake version.

This time I used a muffin tin, shaving cream, and sponges for cupcakes

Mix the food colouring in

Holding encourages more control!  These were actually pool noodles I had cut up some time ago for boats in the tub.

Finished!

Ladybug Girl loved it so much she said "even if there's no corner bakery here, I'll still do this, mommy".

And so she has.

Then hand them a paintbrush (or three) with the leftover shaving cream and stand back!

She was humming.

Lost in her imagination

When I was a kid I would bring my doll to the bath and I could stay there for  a whole hour.  There's something about baths that's so magical that time stops.  If I remember that from my childhood, then I'm glad my daughter will remember happy baths as well!  

What are your child's favourite things to do in the bath?  I need more ideas!

See our toddler baths round-up here.