Making Your Own Bathtub Toys - Thrifty & Fun!

If you are looking for entertaining bath toys for your kids, look no further than your own home. You can make inexpensive bathtub toys easily from everyday objects - with a bit of creativity, you can save some money by reusing or recycling these common objects into fun toys for bath time. Here are a few ideas - some require some craftiness on your part, but many other objects can provide a source of endless fun just as they are!

1. Sailboats

(Photo credit: Uriel 1998)

Here's another way to make use of those plastic water and soda bottles that seem to be everywhere these days. To make a sailboat, here is what you will need:

* Empty plastic water bottle
* Rectangular sponge
* Rubber band
* Scissors
* Drinking straw
* Craft foam or cloth
* Glue

Using the rubber band, attach the sponge to the outside of the bottle. When the bottle is laid on its side in the water, the sponge will absorb enough water to stabilize the boat and keep it from rolling over and over. On the side of the bottle opposite the sponge, poke a hole with scissors. Insert the drinking straw. Then, cut the craft foam or cloth into a triangle. Fold one edge of it around the straw and glue.

2. Funnels
Funnels of all shapes and sizes make wonderful bath toys as they are. Raid your kitchen cabinets.

3. Colanders

Let your kids play with the kitchen colander in the bath. Little ones love to see the water run through the holes.

4. Medicine droppers
Kids love to play with these. They look like syringes without needles. Squirting water out of them is a lot of fun - but be prepared to get wet! The same is true for bulb-shaped nasal aspirators. Make sure it's clean, and then let your child suck up and squirt water in and out of the bulb syringe.

(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

5. Measuring cups and spoons
These are always popular with kids, especially babies and toddlers. Held together by a ring, measuring spoons can be played with in the tub. So can measuring cups.

6. Plastic dish soap bottles

Your dishwashing liquid bottle can make a great tub toy when it's empty. It's big and easy to squeeze - fill it with bath water and let your kids squirt away.

7. Empty bottles

Big two-liter bottles or smaller ones can be used as is. Babies and toddlers love to watch the water chug and glug as they pour it out.

8. Ice cube trays

Pour "water fountains" up out of the small square compartments of ice cube trays (just pour water into the cubes from a height of a foot or more, and it will spray up like a "fountain"). And the trays are just fun to play with in the tub.

9. Plastic containers

Margarine, whipped topping, yogurt, and other foods come in wonderfully reusable containers of various sizes. Save them and use them in the bath tub - and at the beach they're great for making sand castles!