Baby Doll Bath Toddler Activity

The Baby Doll Bath: the sweetest sensory activity

Do you have a doll loving toddler? I do. He’s 3 years old and absolutely adores his baby dolls. Nothing makes him happier than caring for his babies so I knew a baby doll bath activity would be perfection for him.

RELATED: Looking for more quick and easy activities? Check out my list of 100+ ideas.

Baby Doll Bath was an easy way to entertain my toddler

My toddler loves his babies.

His brother and sister were never much for baby dolls, but he loves them something fierce.

He’s always caring for them, parenting them, and spending time with his babies. He will make a great Dad or caregiver someday.

There’s nothing sweeter than a loving toddler affectionately taking care of a baby doll – and I was all about to use that love and affection to help me have a few minutes of “quiet play” from my toddler.

RELATED: Want more easy toddler activities? Check out this list of 40+ ideas.

I used what he loves – and I made it an activity!

So much of setting up great play prompts or invitations to play for our toddlers has to do with understanding and honoring what they love.

This activity probably wouldn’t have worked too well with my older kids. They were never very in love with dolls. But for my third born, this activity is exactly right for him.

Since I was in our bathroom anyways getting ready, I set this activity up in there.

You can make a baby doll bath ANYWHERE

I made mine in the bathroom sink – there’s a stool so he can reach the sink.

If that doesn’t work for you, try making this same activity in a storage container, the bath tub, or outside. The idea is to give a baby doll a bath – but there’s plenty of wiggle room to make sure that works for your family.

I plugged the sink, filled it with tear-free body wash bubbles, and grabbed a wash cloth for my son.

RELATED: Check out these 20+ baby washing station activities!

I couldn’t believe how long he play!

This activity went on for more than 20 minutes and the only reason it ended… was me! I needed to leave the bathroom and didn’t want him unsupervised on his stool.

It was too bad, because if I’d done this somewhere else – like outside or in my storage container –  I bet he had at least another 20 minutes of play in him. It was a GREAT activity.

The best part: this is play AND learning

During this activity, my son had so much fun playing with his beloved doll.

But he’s also doing some serious learning in this activity:

• Cause and effect – learning about how water moves
• Care taking – learning how to care for others
• Sensory – this activity is deeply rooted in sensory
• Empathy – he’s showing kindness and affection to another

Which baby doll is this?

Here is a link to the baby doll in these photos – a gift from Grandma for my son’s second birthday.

The baby doll bath – what a hit!!

I can’t believe I waited this long to make this activity for my three-year-old. We’ve done so many washing stations before: toys, apples, and cars and trucks. But I never thought to grab a baby doll!

He loved this and even seeing the pictures as I type up the post – he’s already asking to play again!

What will your baby doll bath time activity look like?