Review - Flexibath bath toys

I recently received a set of Flexibath bath toys in the post to review.  Made free from potentially harmful chemicals such as BPA and things called phthalates (they're put into plastic products to increase their flexibility, transparency, durability, and longevity), these products are touted as "cool bath toys without uncool chemicals".

The set is billed as a coffee or tea set with two cups, one jug, one funnel and lid and one table to put them all on (which attaches to the side of your bath). 

What are they like? 

At first sight, the toys look quite basic (the 'cups' for instance are not shaped like teacups but more like very small, plastic beakers).  However, this basic approach is totally understandable because it makes the toys so much easier for little hands to grab and hold. 

The great thing about these toys is that they are made out of soft plastic, which means they are extremely malleable.  As such, there is no risk of the toys breaking or cracking and they are all nicely rounded, which means no sharp corners.

As I've mentioned, the table that comes with this set of bath toys is designed to attach to the side of your bath with suckers.  I have bought toys before with the same sort of attaching mechanism that just haven't worked in the slightest.  With my past experience in mind, I was therefore sceptical that this table would work any better.

However, to my surprise and relief (and as you can see from the photos) I discovered that the table stuck steadfastly to my bathtub.  In fact the grip was so strong, neither of my children could dislodge it even an inch and I had to use my strength to remove it when I wanted to clean the bath.  This is very reassuring because the last thing you want is for your child to put his or her weight onto something which then collapses into the water, talking your child with it.

But no matter how much I thought it was a good idea, I really wasn't sure that my children - aged three and one - would get that much use out of them.  After all, how many times can you pretend to make a cup of tea?  I put it to my dedicated testers to find out... 

What did the children think?

I was surprised to find that my three-year-old was most impressed by the toys and claimed them for herself straight away.  It was lovely to see playing 'mum' and making her brother imaginary cups of tea.  The best thing was that he played along too, making bathtime a very calm experience for once!

Dexter inevitably wanted to 'taste' the toys and see exactly what they were like.  As I've said, the fact these toys are so flexible and malleable meant I had no reason to worry when he decided to chew on one of the cups.

I was worried about my children getting bored of these toys, but they haven't yet tired of them.  My daughter loves hosting bathtime tea parties and Dexter enjoys trying to stack all the toys on top of each other.

 

The Flexibath Toys are designed to accompany the Flexibath Baby Bathtub but can be used on their own.  These toys have quickly become a permanent feature in our bathroom and I can see them getting a lot of use.

The other good thing about this set is that it's size mean it's portable.  One thing I've always had some trouble with is finding bath toys that are easy to take away on holiday (a lack of toys to play with during the evening bath risks my tired children getting even more grumpy than they already might be).  But, these bath toys should mean an end to that and I'll definitely be packing them in my bag the next time we travel.

The Flexibath bath toys are aimed at children aged six months and above and they retail for £13.95 from Whitestep.

Please note: I received this product free of charge for the purposes of writing this review.