KIDS’ STYLE : LOOKS : Wet Behind the Ears

Many children think of bath time as a necessary evil, sort of like picking at dinner before devouring dessert. But trade that boring washcloth and bar of soap for a fanciful sponge and watermelon-scented bath gel, and it’s as if play time had never ended. - H2O Plus makes botanical products that spell good clean fun for kids: shower and bath gels redolent of grapes and cherries, a shampoo and conditioner with the tang of green apples and a moisturizer that could pass for banana puree. Priced from $4.50 to $7, all are water-based formulas containing mostly natural ingredients. - Bath toys, not made by H2O Plus, include crayon-shaped soap, combs with octopus handles and sponges that look like popsicles, tennis shoes and numbered turtles (who said you can’t teach in the tub?). And for purists, H2O Plus stores at the Beverly Center, Fashion Square in Sherman Oaks and the Galleria at South Bay in Redondo Beach also carry little rubber duckies.