My kids love their baths and we try to make baths as fun and frugal as possible. Here is a list of thirteen tips and recipes to make bath time more fun in your house!
1. No need to buy expensive bathtub crayons- you can make your own. These can also double
as a great stocking stuffer for Christmas or another fun item in your
child’s Easter Basket.
Bathtub Crayons
1 Cup grated Ivory soap
¼ cup warm water
Food Coloring Plastic cookie cutters or hard candy molds
Directions:
Mix water, soap and food coloring together in bowl. Remove the mixture
from bowl and knead it until it’s the consistency of thick dough. Spoon
mixture into plastic cookie cutters or candy molds. Place the cookie
cutters or molds in the freezer for 10 minutes or longer. Pop the
crayons out of the cookie cutters and allow them to dry overnight.
2.
Don't buy expensive bath toys. My favorite bath toys, as a child, were
my mother’s Tupperware collection. The bath toys that she bought were
not as much fun as pretending to cook or collecting water to dump.
3.
When you wash your shower curtain liner you can just toss the bath toys
in with the liner to be washed. This periodic washing will cut down on
germs.
4. Use a child’s sand pail to put all of your bathing
supplies in for your baby. When they get older, they can then use this
as a toy. This will save you from running back and forth to get all of
the items that you need for bath time.
5. Finger paints can be a fun addition to your child's bath. Here is a recipe to make some of these for your kids:
Bubble Bath Finger Paints
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt,
Food coloring
Bubble bath (not the foamy type)
Water
Directions:
Mix water with the flour until you get a paste. Add food coloring and
bubble bath until you get the thickness you like. This works well in
the bath tub. They can paint themselves or the walls and it washes
right off. It may turn the water the color of the food coloring but it
won't stain the child.
6. If you use the foamy hand soaps, save
your pump and reuse it for your child’s bodywash. Simply refill the
pump with a third of your child’s favorite bodywash and then top it off
with water. Give it a little shake and you have fun foamy soap for a
fraction of the price!
7. Make your own hair detangler by combining one part conditioner with ten parts water. Mix well and pour into a spray bottle.
8.
Reuse an old mesh laundry bag for all storing all of your bath toys.
The mesh will allow all of the water to drain from the toys and the bag
can easily be hung from the string or handles.
9. Use the bubble
bath finger paints as a teaching tool for your children. You can write
letters and numbers for smaller children, and as they get older, work
on addition and subtraction. It can make learning time fun without the
investment of those foam letters and numbers.
10. Skip buying a
baby tub (unless you receive one as a gift) and use your sink instead.
We love bathing our little one in the sink and it is easier on my back
because I am not leaning down into a tub. When they get bigger (but are
still not big enough for a regular tub), use a plastic laundry basket
to bathe them in.
11. Don’t buy special baby towels- these are a
waste of money. You can just use the towels that you already have on
hand to wrap baby in. If you really like the hood on the baby bath
towels, you can easily make your own. Look here for these simple instructions.
12.
Make a frugal bathtime gift for a family member. When I was in college,
I made these as a Mother’s Day gift for the moms in my life. I
purchased inexpensive bottles at Walmart and tied a bow at the top of
the bottle. This is a very simple craft that you could do with your
children and makes a lovely gift for any occasion. One warning- GO EASY
on the food coloring. Don’t ask me why I know this, but just trust me!
Grandma won’t think this is such a great gift if she is a dark shade of
blue…
Homemade Bath Salts
1-4 lb. bag Epsom salt (this can be purchased at any drugstore)
Food Coloring or Powdered Cake coloring (Powdered Cake coloring can be purchased at a cake decorating store or craft store)
Perfume or soap safe scents
Directions:
Take a 4 lb. bag of Epsom salt and dump pour it into a bowl. Then add
your food coloring to the salts and mix gently with a large spoon. You
can add any essential oil or perfume that you would like to the mixture
(or leave this out if your family member has sensitive skin). Pour the
salts into a pretty bottle or a jar and tie a ribbon at the top. For
foaming bath salts, add two tablespoons of glycerin to the mixture and
toss this in gently.
13. Last but not least, save yourself some
water and double the kids up in the bathtub or take a bath with your
baby. This will save yourself some time so that you can do a little
something for yourself, and you cut down on water usage at the same
time!
Sound Off: Do you have any tips or tricks for getting your kids squeaky clean and ways to keep them occupied in the tub?
