Bring a Tray to Bathtime

With just the same materials we use for play time around here, it's really easy to think up new ways to keep using them.  In our case, it's just a tray that I put in the shower/makeshift tub area.  I love to do sensorial messy play in the bathroom because everything just washes down at the end of the bath.

A few weeks ago, Ladybug Girl went through a brief fascination with ice skating.  She saw a toy review and wanted an Elsa doll that could skate (someone teach me how to block toy channels on YouTube!).  Luckily this got it out of her system:

We dressed a doll in figure skater clothes (thank you, cousins, for this stash of dolls and clothes!), and I put a tray in the shower with some near-empty washable paint that I wanted to finish up.

 This was just all sorts of fun --

playing pretend, making art and feeling the sensory delight of paint with her hands.

Great play even for toddlers in the bath!

This next one is equally simple, if you don't mind using half a can of shaving foam:

The figures are from her Busy Book with the Frozen movie theme, which is in every bookstore right now

Wouldn't this be nice with some polar animals to learn about habitats? 

Truthfully I didn't need half a can of shaving foam - I was just having too much fun myself.  No further pictures than this because I joined in on this bath play.

But really, sometimes all you need is a tray among the usual toys and bath bubbles and that's enough.

It's an island... or maybe a boat? 

I think the best part is that ordinary things become magical when our kids get their hands on it. Or maybe it's the fact that these only take three minutes to setup!