Bath time is a great time to relax and reconnect with the kids at the end of the day. My younger two boys (4 and 2) still need full supervision in the bath and even though Mr Z (5) is okay by himself I still often sit in the bathroom to keep him company. My kids love being in water but having a variety of bath toys makes things a lot more interesting.
Recently we were sent the* Tomy Poppin’ Penguin Island for review and this was a hit with all the boys straight away. Here are some of the games we have been playing with it.
The Poppin Penguin Island comes with a base, and 4 differently coloured penguins which sit on top of it. When your child presses down the orange fish, then each penguin takes his turn one by one to dive into the water – all accompanied by music.
Each penguin is numbered and they launch in the same order each time. The unit takes batteries but is totally waterproof, even when fully submerged or dunked under the water it still appears to be totally fine! The only small issue I had is that I can’t find any on/off switch, so it is always on some kind of standby and if you accidentally nudge the toy then the music will start playing – not that this is a big issue.
So, on to the games:
- Colour matching – This is a great simple game for the youngest children. The toy is recommended for age 18 months+ and this activity will work perfectly for that age group. You can also work on naming the colours with your child eg “Find the yellow penguin” as well as basic colour matching of the yellow penguin to the yellow spot on the base.
- Bath time musical statues. – This one is Mr T’s idea. The base plays music and then once all 4 penguins have dived into the water, it will stop. So you can activate the music, everyone has to dance and then watch out for it to stop! It’s like a bath time penguin disco!
- Diving Championships – This is Mr Z’s favourite bath game and these penguins work very well for it. You line then up along the side of the bath, and then each one has to put on a diving show (controlled by the child) and you can give scores out of 100 for how good or bad each penguin performs and one will be crowned as the winner. We like to call this the annual diving championships 😉
- Penguin Guessing – Although the penguins dive in the same order each time, the boys decided to mix them so that they are not in their matching places and then you can all guess which colour is going to dive first and see who gets it right.
- Penguin Hunt – Once the penguins have dived into the water, it’s a fun game to hunt them out from under the bubbles!
These penguins can easily be mixed and matched with other bath toys, so you can put them onto a boat or make them into pirate penguins or whatever your child would like! They are very chunky and a great size for little hands.
It can be a little tricky for the younger ones to balance them on the base while it is bobbing around on the water so it does take a little concentration and will help with their coordination and fine motor skills. They can also be used to help with early counting skills and number recognition as they have the numbers on the penguins’ front.
The Poppin Penguin Island is available from Amazon* and other good retailers
What bath toys do your children enjoy the most? If you have some more ideas for fun games and activities to keep bath time entertaining then please share them with me in the comments!
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Anna Marikar, mum of four and seasoned blogger, has spent over a decade sharing her parenting journey and passion for kid-friendly crafts and free printables.
Her easy-to-follow craft ideas and practical parenting advice have transformed In The Playroom into a cherished resource for parents.
I always just give them the toys or crayon to draw!
It is a great bath toy isn’t it. It sounds like your boys have been really imaginative with it!
Looks like a great toy for the bath for young ones!!
I’ve only ever seen bath toys individually, never really ‘games’ for in the bath. This looks fab! x