Review: Brother Max bath toys

Once your child is old enough to sit up unaided, you might find that bathtime becomes much more than just a purely functional event – and more of a playtime extravaganza!  All that bubbly water presents an exciting play opportunity for any little one and whether it’s a bit of good old-fashioned splashing or experimenting with the latest bath toy innovations, there’s lots of fun to be had!

Bubs and I recently had the chance to try out some rather funky-looking bath toys from Brother Max.  As you would expect from this forward-thinking brand, the toys are well thought out and designed in conjunction with cognitive therapists to cater for a child’s natural play instincts as well as giving them an early introduction to the things we use to wash ourselves.

We tested the five toy set which includes a flexi brush, sprinkler cup, ring rattle, sponge stamper and twister flannel – a three toy set including the sprinkler cup, ring rattle and twister flannel is also available.  Because children respond to interesting shapes and colours, the toys are designed to look a bit different with their turquoise, orange and white colour palette.  Some of the toys also feature transparent compartments with beads inside that are designed to fill up with water for added interest.  All the toys are washable – the twister flannel comes apart and can be machine washed while the sponge stamper and ring rattle can be hand washed. They are also BPA, phthalate and PVC free.

When we first opened the box, Bubs was really interested in these toys and wasted no time exploring each one and what it was designed to do.  At two he got bored quite quickly with the ring rattle which I think is aimed at younger children, but he enjoyed playing with the others – in particular the sprinkler cup and the flexi brush.

As a parent I was impressed with the quality of the toys, which are really sturdy and designed specifically for little hands.  I also loved the fact that the rubbery spots on each toy change colour from orange to yellow if the bath water is too hot – a great safety feature.  The twister flannel is a really handy toy because it floats in the bath, making it easy to grab when I needed to wipe Bubs’ eyes during the dreaded hair washing!  I would, however, say that the actual flannel could have been a bit larger as it was slightly too small for practical use unless I removed the plastic ‘twister’ portion.  The fact that the toys are washable is a real plus and I noticed that the toys which fill with water are easy to drain which is important for hygiene and also makes them easy to store, unlike our flock of mildewed rubber ducks!  The only other thing I would say is that while the toys look great, I think they would have been even more eye-catching if each toy had been a different colour and this would present another opportunity for learning through play.

Overall though I think these toys are great – the idea behind them is a clever one and they are practical as well as being fun for little ones which is always a winner in our house!  The set retails at around £16 which might seem a little expensive at first but I think is good value for money, especially as the toys are so robust – they’ll last a lot of bathtimes and they cater for babies through to toddlers so we will hopefully get good use from them for a long time to come.  They are available from Mothercare, Kiddicare, Amazon and leading independent retailers.