Watercolors in the Bath

How does bath time go in your home? My 4 year old prefers the morning shower to a bath and my 22-month old, who’s mostly loved her baths, recently started giving us a hard time about bathing.

Over the last few years my husband and I have come up with all sorts of creative solutions to encouraging our kids to bathe. I wonder if you’ve tried any of these tricks?

• • Offer your kids water-resistant dolls with soap and washcloths for “Baby bath time”
  • Fill a bath-side bag with toys (rubber ducks, buckets, cups with holes in them, etc.)
  • Bubble bath
  • Craft foam in the Tub
  • Bubbles (for blowing) with bubble wands
  • Bathe in the dark with flashlights,/candles/glowsticks
  • Bathtub Crayons

This bath time invitation is just a simple Washable Watercolor set.

All you need is a watercolor box and a paintbrush. The box usually come with a brush, so this takes about two seconds to pull together.

Little Rainbow dipped her brush in all the colors, individually and then mixed together. This is a new one for me, and it was so popular with my Rainbow that 4-year old Nutmeg asked if she could jump in too. She usually prefers to shower alone, so I thought this was the best kind of endorsement.

Rainbow painted while her big sister washed the paintings away.

When they was done, the paint box was a mixed up mess, but I just rinsed it out and the colors sprang back to life.

The only trouble I had was with cleaning the paint. All of the colors washed away, except for the black. It came right off the tiles, but left a grey shadow on my white tub. It washed right away with a little bit of Bar Keepers Friend, my favorite porcelain cleaner. But the fun that was had (and the clean bodies that went along with that) was well worth a little elbow grease for me.

More Creative Bathtime Fun

Two of my favorite spots to visit for creative bath play are Growing a Jeweled Rose and The Imagination Tree

• Crystal at the fun kid-friendly blog, Growing a Jeweled Rose, is the Queen of bath play. She has a whole category named Sensory Baths, that will keep your little ones wet and happy.
• One of my favorite bath activities from Crystal is her glow-in-the-dark outer space bath. OMG — it’s ridiculously cool.
• Crystal has an entire Pin Board called Play in the Bath
• Anna at The Imagination Tree shows us how to make Shaving Cream Bath Paint. Her photos make the paint look like frosting.
• Also inspiring are Anna’s Multi-sensory bath time photos, where she colors the bath water (and reminds us that the color will not stain our kids’ skin).

Do you have tricks for making bath time more fun (and/or luring your kids into the bath)?