What toys are suitable for toddlers and preschoolers?
Familiar characters and toys with buttons to push or levers to pull will distract toddlers from the dreaded hair wash and help develop their understanding of cause and effect.
Start looking for bath toys that do things now, like light up, make a noise or move around, to capture your child's attention.
Once they can be trusted not to put everything in their mouths, creative toys like bath crayons are a great buy. Do encourage them to keep their artwork to the sides of the bath though – crayon marks don't tend to come out of the grouting.
Foam stickers or puzzles that have pieces that float in the water and can be pieced together on the tiled wall are sure to keep them busy. Foam numbers and letters, as they begin to recognise those, will provide a great platform for learning during playtime.
There are lots of small-world bath toys on the market, from sea creatures to pirate ships and more (watch out for any tiny pieces). STEM bath toys are available for all ages, but there are some particularly nifty ones for older kids – from bath cogs and gears to building toys and bath rain clouds that help them discover how the weather works.
How to store bath toys
Once you’ve got a few bath toys, you’ll want something to help keep them all together so that you prevent your bathroom from being annexed by small plastic sharks and pirates. No one likes stepping on a rubber duck in the shower, or having to clear out a space every time you want to get in the tub yourself.
Opt for a baby bath toy storage solution that allows the toys to drain easily to prevent them from getting mouldy. While the most common option is a net with suckers that you attach to the bathroom wall, we’d recommend a bath toy organiser that's a little more sturdy, such as the Koo-di Scoop n Store Bath Toy Caddy.
You don’t need to break the bank though. A simple peg basket with drainage holes in it can be hung from your shower caddy. A drying rack left in the bath would also work just fine.
How do I keep bath toys clean?
Anything that sits in water runs the risk of becoming mouldy so you'll need to wash your child's bath toys regularly.
Give them a rinse and squeeze as much water as you can out of them after each bath, and then store them in a cool, dry place where they can drip-dry easily.
You’ll probably want to give them a proper wash every few weeks too. The easiest solution is to stick them in the dishwasher, which is hot enough to kill off any germs – or you can sterilise them in the same way you do baby feeding bottles.
You can also use diluted bleach – but be very sure you’ve rinsed it all off before giving the toy back to your child – or soak it in diluted vinegar overnight and rinse off.
The worst offenders are squeeze toys that take water in and then squirt it out because, inevitably, it never all comes out. You can, however, buy squeeze toys that are made in two halves to be opened up for cleaning now, like these Munchkin Bath Squirts or completely sealed units like the Cuddledry Cuddleduck.
The alternative for those who are mould-averse is to simply replace your bath toys every few months, but the impact on the environment and your budget could be off-putting.
What is the best bath toy?
We think Nuby Foam Bath Letters and Numbers are the best bath toy currently available. Mumsnetters praise their versatility, affordability and their encouragement of interactive play. And they're educational too - win-win!
How we chose our recommendations
Recommendations from real parents
First up, we sought out the trusted opinions of Mumsnet users to get their feedback on their favourite bath toys for children of all ages, as well as the bath toys that they rate, recommend and have used with their own families.
We also looked out for any negative reviews, where Mumsnetters highlighted products that they felt were poor quality, difficult to clean, didn’t work or simply weren’t well received by their children.
Expert opinions
Next up, we considered reviews and feedback from trusted industry experts. We want to be confident that the products we recommend are fit for purpose, so we looked out for award-winning products, CE marked products, or those that were well regarded in the marketplace.
Authentic consumer reviews
Finally, to bring you our definitive list of the best baby bath toys on the market, we thoroughly investigated genuine, in-depth customer reviews on retailer sites such as Amazon, Argos and John Lewis to get wider consumer experiences regarding the products on our shortlist.
About the author
Lucy Cotterill is a mum of two and a Content Writer at Mumsnet, specialising in baby/child and lifestyle product reviews and round-ups. Highly experienced with baby carriers, she used a baby carrier with both her daughters as both newborns and toddlers, including a soft-structured carrier and back carrier.
Having written product reviews on her own blog Real Mum Reviews since 2012, Lucy loves to research and explore the pros and cons of baby products, scrutinising reviews and consumer feedback to help parents make confident purchases that benefit their families.
Originally from a HR background with a degree in Business Studies, Lucy developed a real passion for blogging and writing when her children were young, going on to write for several online publications including US parenting site Pregistry and the Evening Standard. When she’s not manically tapping the keys of her laptop, Lucy loves nothing more than to cosy up with her Kindle and enjoy the latest thriller, or compete in Nintendo Switch rallies with her daughters aged six and 10.
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