Need to drum up a little excitement for bath time? Try this pom pom bath activity – it is a genius way to get kids engaged in baths and have a little (a lot) of fun. Don’t miss the directions on how to dry pom pom balls after the bath is over.
Is a pom pom bath a real thing?
I’m not trying to oversell here, friends, but seriously: This was one heck of an amazing bath time activity. The kind of activity that will go down in the easy kids activity record books, which I’m sure is around here somewhere.
Grab your bag of pom pom balls.
Draw a bath.
The pom pom bath is about to change your child’s bath time for the good, because things are about to get real awesome.
Stick around for some tips on how to clean-up this crazy easy activity.
RELATED: Need some more fun bath time activities? Check out this list I have of bath time favorites.
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The lengthy materials list (that’s sarcasm)
Nothing is better than a super easy activity and I’m not going to lie: I definitely rank activities based on how many supplies I needed to make it happen.
Well good news. You only need one supply to make this bath time activity happen.
Materials:
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That’s all you need. Oh, I guess pom pom balls AND a bath tub. Okay, fine – there are two supplies. Three, if you include water, but I think that’s getting nit picky (insert cry laugh emoji).
I tossed my years old bag of pom pom balls into the tub with my daughter and she was beside herself! Why wouldn’t she? This was so inviting, so awesome, and so unexpected!
How to play with a pom pom bath
My daughter immediately asked for a few empty cups to scoop pom poms with and I was into it! Pom pom balls are seriously the best.
They don’t get old.
She spent the next 45 minutes scooping, sorting, sifting, squeezing, and having the time of her life in this bath. It was a joy and the reset/win her day desperately needed.
Pom pom baths are sensory bins
When we think of a sensory bin, we usually think of something like rice or beans in a big bin with kids scooping and pouring them.
But a bath tub a giant sensory bin.
Water is a sensory base.
Pom poms are a sensory base.
This is a life size sensory bin that my daughter is soaking in and she was into it.
RELATED: Why is sensory play so important for kids? Check out this post where I break down what kids learn in sensory play?
IMPORTANT – How to dry pom pom balls
I had NO idea you could get pom pom balls wet until my friend from Happy Toddler Playtime told me (she had this great pom pom scoop activity with water and I was like – hold the wet pom pom ball phone!).
Turns out, pom pom balls can get wet and they’re dry just fine!
The clean-up step by step
To get the pom pom balls out of my tub, I used a colander.
I also smoosh them with my hand, squeeze, and push out the extra water when they are in the colander to get the drying process started.
Next, I put those pom pom balls into a pillow case and tied the end with the rubber band. TRUST ME: do not for get the rubber band. It’s happened here…
Take the pillow case full of pom poms and toss it in the dryer. Those poms take their drying time – took me 3 dries on high but they are fresh and good as new.
If you don’t have a dryer, you can lay them on a towel to dry outside in the sunshine. It works too!
What age is this activity for?
Pom pom baths are fantastic for kids who are safe with pom pm balls. That’s going to be different for each child, but in general, this activity is best with ages 3+ (and lots of parental judgement and supervision to keep your child safe).
It’s important to remember that while they are fun and fanciful, pom pom balls are a major choking hazard so be careful.
Susie Allison, M. Ed
Owner, Creator
Susie Allison is the creator of Busy Toddler and has more than 2.3 million followers on Instagram. A former teacher and early childhood education advocate, Susie’s parenting book “Busy Toddler’s Guide to Actual Parenting” is available on Amazon.
