Indoor Bath Treasure Hunt Adventure for Kids

One of the reasons why we love summer is that we get to splash in the pool every day. It is probably one of the activities that we miss the most during the colder months.

But because I have a little boy who must’ve been a fish in a previous life lol, I have to allow lots of water play indoors. Whether it is playing in the sink, washing his plastic dishes, fruit, vegetables or taking long baths in the tub, this adorable aqua boy has to have his daily dose of splashing about.

Most of the time I just fill the recipient of choice with water and leave him to it. But once in a while, I like to set up something a little bit more special for him.

One of these water activities that he goes absolutely bonkers about is a bath treasure hunt. It is extremely easy and quick to set up so it’s a win for mommy who doesn’t have to do much work and a win for the child who will have a blast.

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Here is what you need for this activity and how to set it up:

You do not need many materials for this water activity which is another reason why I love it.

The first step is to put some water in the bathtub. I guess the quantity of water depends on the child’s age- my son is four and pretty used to being in the water and knows about safety, so I fill the tub with water up to his chest.

Then, add the bubble shampoo of your choice. Here, if you have a preferred brand that works for your child, stick to it. For us, when I buy a bubble bath, I want it to be

made of natural ingredients (as much as possible anyway),

free of or little fragrance because strong perfume is irritant,

gentle with the eyes- stingy eyes are not fun

make loads of bubbles

One option which we absolutely loved is the bubble bath from Babo Botanicals as it ticks all the boxes for us. Like with any bubble bath, make sure to respect the manufacturer’s instructions or else you will end up with either a few bubbles or too many. I got the best bubbles when adding about two and a half capfuls under the running water.

If you want to go a step further, you can add a colouring tablet that will change the colour of the water into red, yellow, blue or green. Honeysticks Bath Color Tablets for Kids are fragrance-free and made with food-grade ingredients.

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Get more awesome ideas of Indoor Activities for kids

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Now, moving on to the “treasures” that you can put in there. You can opt for a theme or just put random toys in there.

Some ideas of toys that you can put in the tub are:

• little dinosaurs
• toy cars
• farm/wild animals
• sea creatures
• mini action figurines
• bracelets and necklaces
• squishies
• beads
• craft materials

There are so many possibilities of little objects for the water treasure hunt. Just make sure that they are “water-friendly”, meaning they won’t dissolve, and not sharp.

If you don’t want to waste time thinking about what could go in the bathtub, simply get some bath bombs with surprise toys in them. Depending on what your child likes, there are many to choose from like superhero bath bombs, dinosaur ones, cute animals and so on.

Tips for setting up the Bath Treasure Hunt

As I said at the beginning of the post, setting up a bath scavenger hunt couldn’t be easier.

You simply fill the bathtub with warm water, put the bubble bath solution and scatter the toys in there.

I will mention a few things that will make the scavenger hunt bath a total success.

Make sure to put the bubble solution when the water is running, ideally right where the tap water is flowing in the tub. If you put the solution in the still water, chances are you won’t get many bubbles.

The water should be warm as cool water suppresses bubbles.

To get a decent amount of bubbles, be sure to respect the manufacturer’s instructions and put that exact amount. Otherwise, you’ll either end up with few bubbles or you’ll spend a lot of time trying to get rid of the bubbles (speaking from experience here, lol).

Opt for toys that sink rather than ones that float as these will be easier to find.

A good idea would be to remember the number of toys that went into the bathtub so that you make sure the little adventurer has found all of them. Optionally, if you have the time and desire, you can make a printable checklist with the toys that need finding and laminate it so that it’s waterproof.

And last but not least, you might want to have the mop close by or put some towels on the floor as the rising excitement might cause the floor to become wet.

See more Sensory Play Ideas for kids

That’s pretty much it. Even though it might get a little messy, I guarantee that the bath treasure hunt will be a hit with your water-loving child and it will provide many moments of fun (often until the child gets extremely wrinkly), as well as a great sensory experience and the chance for you little one(s) to refine some important skills.

If you liked this idea, it would really help if you shared this with your friends 🙂