It shouldn’t be difficult to find good bath toys. And yet the world is full of slimy, revolting, sludge-filled options that may as well have been custom-made for the purpose of harboring mold and bacteria.As a parent, I had seen plenty of bath toys break bad over the years — foam blocks felled by suspicious speckles, a once-frisky Paw Patrol floatie subdued by splotches. But my call to arms was a plastic ballerina elephant squirter: It shot a cascade of slimy, greenish-black flakes into my toddler’s bathwater and sent me on this epic, sudsy quest for better alternatives.I researched hundreds of bath toys, and I spent over a year testing more than 50 of them with my family before making our picks. We’ve continued to long-term test them, and another Wirecutter editor is long-term testing some with her daughter. (It turns out you’re never too old to appreciate some mid-shower entertainment.) The 15 toys we recommend are thoughtfully designed, fun to play with, and low-maintenance. They’re intended for a range of ages. But, as always, it’s important to consider your child’s individual developmental stage when you’re gauging whether a toy is appropriate.Though no bath toy is totally immune to fungal growth — this comes with the territory — our picks are uncommonly resistant. In other words, unlike much of the junk out there — I’m lookin’ at you, Elephant in a Tutu — they’re actually well suited to life in the watery trenches.