Toy Washing Station: A Quick & Easy Activity

Table of Contents:

1. Give your toys a bubble bath make a toy washing station.
2. A two birds, one stone kind of activity
3. Best part it was easy to set up
4. And then my kids started their toy washing station
5. Magically, this activity held all three of their attentions.
6. Great activities don’t have to be complicated
7. When will you make a toy washing station?

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Give your toys a bubble bath: make a toy washing station.

I definitely do not clean our toys enough. I don’t know that there’s really anything that could every scrub them truly clean at this point, but I guess I can try…. Or at least my kids can try. I built a toy washing station and the kids took it from there.

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A two birds, one stone kind of activity

This toy washing station ended up being the kind of activity that kills two birds with one stone. Except there were no stones and no birds were harmed in the making of this quirky bubble bath, which was inspired by this Lego Washing Activity.

Instead, what I had at the end was a basket of clean toys and kids playing together for 20 minutes.

Clean toys.

Entertained children.

What more could I actually ask from this activity?!

Best part: it was easy to set up

Materials:

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• Two sensory bins (mine were 17 qts and 28 qts)
• Tear free bubble bath
• Scrubbing tools
• Plastic toys that are OK to get wet
  

I started by filling the smaller container with tear free bubble bath and water – made it nice and bubbly. I set that bin inside the other bin (we are double bagging here people).

Next to the bin, I threw in a bunch of plastic toys – balls, cars, animals – all the stuff from the “random-doesn’t-have-a-designated-home toy bin”.

And then my kids started their toy washing station

My kids (4.5, 3, and 17 months old) loved this. They were so serious about their washing.

Naturally the older two did most of the actually washing, brushing, and drying, but their “taby” brother – he loved dropping the toys in and out of the water. He got an A+ for mimicking the big kids!

Magically, this activity held all three of their attentions.

What I love about an activity like this is that it actually has more to offer than meets the eye:

• Sensory activity – playing with water and bubbles
• Fine motor skills – working with their hands to clean
• Imaginary play – this invited a lot of make believe!

Great activities don’t have to be complicated

Just because an activity only takes a minute to set up or seems so simple to us adults – that doesn’t mean it isn’t exactly what our kids are after.

Making an easy toy washing station was a piece of cake – but my kids said this was the best part of the day. Because it was simple, playful, and engaging.

When will you make a toy washing station?