Painting the Bathtub

(E was 32 months old.)

 

This post contains affiliate links for your convenience. Thanks for your support!

 

You’ll need:

• Tempera paint.
• Paint brush(es), sponge, bath pouf or other painting implements (optional).

 

This is the first in a series of bathtub painting activities we’ve done, as E asked to paint the bathtub several days in a row. {An article about the time we used fizzy shaving cream paint is coming up; click here to read about our Bubble Bath Bathtub Paint activity.}

I was actually quite surprised the first time she asked, as we hadn’t done anything colorful in the bathtub in months. {We did our Food Color Bathtub Painting and Colorful Bathtub activities six months ago!}

This time, I didn’t want to make it a real “bath activity” but rather give E the chance to paint the different surfaces of the bathtub while having it contain the mess {pretty much the same way we used the box in Painting in a Box}. Of course, as an added bonus, clean up is always a snap in the bathtub.

I gave her a muffin tin with plain tempera paint, a few paint brushes, a sponge and a couple of bath poufs. {It was way too much paint, she didn’t get close to using all of it.}

She got right into painting, starting with the floor of the bathtub.

This time, she wasn’t into body painting and actually wiped the paint off her toe right away when she accidentally touched it with her paintbrush.

Next, she very carefully painted along the side of the bathtub.

She made sure to use all the surfaces {and all the colors 😉 }

and switched her painting implements as well.

She painted with her feet

and made adorable foot prints.

Even Ariel received a thick coat of paint 😉

E really enjoyed painting with the sponge.

She thought it was hilarious to paint the shower wall in those spots where bottles of shampoo and body wash were on the other side of it.

Some five finger painting on the wall for good measure

and it was time to admire her complete work of art.

When she was done, she simply turned on the water and rinsed the muffin tin and Ariel.

Cleaning up the bathtub itself was easy but there were two or three spots that did require a bit of scrubbing. No big deal, though.

 

What I learned:

• Painting the bathtub is great fun and very engaging, even without water.
• Tempera works well for the most part, although you shouldn’t be shocked if you get a few faint stains that come out with a little scrubbing.

 

Additional suggestions:

• Do this during a bath.
• Do this in the (dry) shower for more room to stretch out upwards.

 

 

 

Do you enjoy painting the bathtub? Leave a comment!

 

 

 

If you liked this post, come follow me on Pinterest to keep up to date with all we do, and for lots of great ideas from others! Or like and drop me a line on my Facebook page, where I share my own posts and those of others every day!