Bubbles!

We've been having great fun with bubbles over the last week.  It started when I noticed that the children were particularly fascinated with the bubbles whilst we were playing with Soap Flake Foam.  Building on this interest I decided to get the bubble mixture out. 

The children love this and it is always popular, but it tends to be one of those activities that I forget to do!  Anyway, being on-the-ball this week, out came the bubbles.  Its surprising how many aspects of physical development are covered by such a simple activity:

There's the obvious, blowing!

Though this can be quite tricky - particularly resisting the urge to place the bubble wand on your lips!

It also provides lots of opportunities for stretching and jumping as you try to reach those pesky bubbles that are always just out of reach!

Also hand-eye coordination.

And then there's coordination - coordinating your actions so you can avoid crashing into each other as you both head for same bubble! (some of us are good at this : some are still oblivious to others!)

So with the interest still going strong and the additional knowledge that both little ones can 'blow' I thought we would try some bubble blowing painting.

I must admit I haven't had much success with this activity in the past.  Usually you can barely see the bubbles or they pop before we have had a chance to print them.   However with a little bit of experimenting I think I have got it right - see there are even learning opportunities for me!

Usually we use shallowish tins or trays.  This appears to have been my first mistake.  Small pots definitely work better.  I experimented with different quantities of washing-up liquid, paint and water and found that 4 tablespoons of paint, 1 tablespoon of good quality washing-up liquid (I used Fairy) and 30ml of water produced good prints, any less paint and they were too faint. 

So we blew....

and blew....ok I think that's enough we can print now

...no, okay maybe a bit more blowing (I think the process it more fun than the end product!)

and finally printing!

And then back to blowing!

Some of us, who were new to this did occasionally suck. Yuk!

We created some pretty impressive results! 

So what next.....well I've found this recipe for giant bubble that I can wait to try for the children to try.  And then there's blow painting or maybe we could try blowing ping pong ball through paint!  I just need more time in the week:)

Links to EYFS:

PD: Using Equipment and Materials (using the bubble wands and straws to blow)

CLL: Language for Communication (following instructions to blow and not suck!)

KUW: Exploration and Investigation (I get this one - learning how to make bubble mixture through experimenting!)

PD: Movement and Space (managing body to create intended movements - jumping, stretching etc.)

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