Rub-a-dub-dub! Dog’s in the tub!

Just squeeze the handle to wash this pup with a fun shower spray. This cute toddler bath toy makes rinsing off soap & shampoo more fun for little ones — if Darby can do it, so can your little one!

Dog_Spa_081320 from Impel Studio on Vimeo.

Importance of role play

Shampooing young children's hair is the most challenging aspect of bath time. The play pattern of washing Darby Dog helps familiarize children with hair washing and the goal of keeping soap out of their eyes. Rehearsing the process from an outsider's perspective can give kids a sense of control over the situation for a better bath time.

The Mission

Skip Hop approached Impel Studio to expand their line of iconic children’s toys with a foam-producing toy for bath time. We began with a survey of the bath time landscape, identifying problems, user needs and opportunities. Initial hands-on play time with all manner of bubbly, foamy toys, materials and gizmos would reveal compelling play patterns.

Brainstorm and Ideation

Concept generation was kicked off with collaborative brainstorm and bubble-blowing sessions with Skip Hop’s internal design team. Evaluation of initial design concepts (including foamy bumble bees and zooming unicorns) led to the selection of the “Dog Spa”, featuring Skip Hop’s “Darby Dog”.

Refinement & Prototyping

Iterative in-house mockups and prototypes facilitate functional and aesthetic refinements. Placing the pump below-decks made for better boating, and we made sure that tiny hands could produce a satisfying shower from a simple mechanism.

Design for manufacture

Impel Studio created detailed, final 3D files for Skip Hop’s manufacturing partner. Designed to hit a very low price point of $9.99 at retail, the toy needed to be robust to pass rigorous child-safety and destruction-testing programs. A soft rubber bulb-pump below the floating boat has an integrated inlet duck-bill type valve. A corrugated rubber connector elbow with integrated outlet valve connects to the sonically welded showhead above. The rotationally molded, painted vinyl figurine snaps in and out so her friends can take a turn in the bath too.