A quick stroll through Target yesterday brought me to the baby bath aisle. Can you believe there is an entire aisle devoted to overpriced bath toys?
Why is there such a huge market for bath toys? The better question may be, why do we as consumers give into buying overpriced baby stuff?
When I was growing up I didn’t have fancy bath toys. My parents were way too cheap to buy me stuff like that. I remember playing with plastic Mardi Gras cups, Barbies, and shaving gel. Most baby toys are plastic and can go in the bath tub even if they aren’t marketed as bath toys. I’ve even heard of parents “bathing” their kids stuffed animals with the kids to get them clean followed with a trip to the dryer. Here is a look into how I save money on bath toys.
Cheap bath toy ideas:
- Use any plastic toys that baby already likes. Robert loves having plastic balls to throw in the bathtub.
- Measuring cups and plastic cups are fun for pouring water.
- Kitchen gadgets can be fun in the bath. We are currently using my metal sieve. A colander would be fun too!
- Craft store foam shapes are WAY cheaper than foam shapes marketed for bath time.
- Be creative! You can see that we have Easter eggs in our bathtub right now. Why not? If baby likes it out of the tub, chances are, he’ll like playing with it in the tub.
- The Dollar Tree has a few plastic tub books similar to the one pictured in the bottom right frame. Bath books seem to be hot right now. I see them everywhere and was happy to see them for only $1 at The Dollar Tree.
As I was putting this post together I read my latest issue of Parents Magazine and was horrified when I saw them endorse a bath toy that retails for $20. I like to think that even if we had tons of money we wouldn’t waste it on a $20 bath toy.
What other cool household items are fun for the bath? I have a good friend who bought some bathtub coloring tabs on sale. Such a cool idea to change the color of your bath water!
I love the egg idea. Will be doing that!! We also use a package of foam sheets we bought at a large retail store in various colors and I cut out shapes, or items my son is interested at the time (nativity set, fire truck, snowman pieces so he can make his own, beach scene pieces, etc). My other favorites are for sure the kitchen gadgets like you said. We use a turkey baster, a hand mixer, a basting brush, and I just ordered a water pump that’s clear so he can see how it works!) We also found that empty shampoo bottles are a huge hit, especially if they have the pump top! Great ideas. Thanks for sharing! And I agree, bath toys are over priced and over rated!!!
So happy that you like the ideas. I need to try the water pump! Thanks for the suggestion.