10 Bath Toys You Can Find in Your Kitchen

If you've ever found yourself looking at a fifteen-dollar plastic bath toy and thinking, "What the heck?" then this post is for you. Sure, it's easy to drop hundreds of dollars on cute toys, but in my experience, the most popular bathtime toys are the following items scavenged from the kitchen cupboards:

plastic funnels
bulb-style basters
basting brushes
measuring cups
measuring spoons
colanders and strainers
whisks
egg beaters
slotted spoons
ladles

Maybe not all of these gizmos are as colorful as specially designated tub toys, but you know what? Kids don't care. They love using the same tools that grown-ups use, even if their application is a bit different. Don't believe me? Drop a dollop of bubble bath in the water and hand your kid a whisk or egg beater. Watch the good times ensue.

Now, there are a few things to note with this approach:

Obviously, these implements should be made of plastic (or stainless steel for older kids) and, if younger children will be using them, you need to make sure that there are no pinchy bits or removable small parts.

And it goes without saying that once these have served as bath toys, you're not going to want to use them in the kitchen again. Consider the bathroom a fun retirement home for your old utensils. And if you're not yet ready to retire any utensils, you can pick up most of these items inexpensively at dollar stores or department stores.

How about you? What kinds of household items have you repurposed as bathtub toys?

Comments (9)

We have never bought a bath toy for my son! old sippy cups whose tops are missing! plastic spoons, plastic bowls basically anything that can handle water and is safe =)

Those are great ideas...except for maybe the egg beater. I've got a 2 year old boy. Just seems like being in your birthday suit with a whirling metal device isn't the best idea for a toddler who's still discovering that he has special bits down there.

I giggled for quite a bit thinking about the egg beater! I have a 10 month old and unfort, bought all the cute bath items. And learned that truly, he's in to the 'real' stuff. One of life's mysteries!

My husband had the brilliant idea to shine a flashlight into our daughter's bath toys. They were all black and moldy. So we've switched to plastic toys that do not hold water. I love this kitchen tool idea!

DO NOT put a funnel in your (young) kids bath!
I thought that was a great idea as well, until my 2 year old son fell on it, landed on his butt cheek about 1/2" from his anus. No, he shouldn't have been standing, but that's what kids do, and I was sitting right there.

This was over a year ago and I still get that sick feeling in my stomach when I think about what could have happened.

Angus, that is horrifying. Thanks for the tip.

Good heads up, Angus. Yes, it is difficult to keep them sitting sometimes.
I think that all the new silicone kitchen doo-dads would be great because they're soft and bendable.
Keep your eyes open at the second hand stores too.

i gave my month old measuring cups and she gagged herself sticking the handle in her mouth. now i only give her things that don't have long pieces that she could choke on.