How this helps
• Bubbles are really fun and capture children's attention.
• Describing how the bubbles are big, small and wet provides lots of opportunities for your little one to hear new words.
• Blowing bubbles encourages your child to take turns with you and other children.
• Learning to blow bubbles is good exercise for the developing muscles in the jaw and mouth.
• Popping bubbles promotes the development of hand-eye coordination.
Watch the film
Instructions for parents/carers
Children are fascinated by bubbles so they're a great way to get your child chatting.
Let your little one take turns with you blowing the bubbles and use simple instructions so they know it's their turn. Using and repeating names when practising turn taking is really important.
Encourage them to pop the bubbles. You can count how many bubbles they pop or how many they can see.
Try using words like 'up, down, pop' and words such as 'lots', 'a few' or 'some' to describe the bubbles.
Let the bubbles pop then say ‘more’ or ‘again’.
You could add an extra challenge for your little one by asking them to blow a bubble in a particular direction. This helps them learn mathematical language around size and direction. You could ask 'Who can blow the bubbles up high?' or 'Who can blow the bubbles all the way over to the chair?'
Remember to build long pauses after asking a question to give your child chance to respond. This shows them that you're turn taking in your chats, as well as your play.
See printable handouts for this activity below.
Chat with parents/carers
Here are some questions you might ask them:
• How did your little one communicate that they wanted more bubbles?
• What types of emotions did your child explore?
More ideas for parents/carers to try at home
You don't always need to go to the shops to buy objects for your children to play with. Here are a couple more activities where you can create your own fun using household objects:
• Have some sensory fun with our homemade playdough recipe.
• Who needs paint when you can use teabags? It's also a great way of reusing old tea bags!
• Make your own snap cards or matching pairs game with just some paper and pencils.
• Did you know you could create your own ball run at home with some cardboard tubes and a door, fridge or wardrobe?
Song
Here's a song to go with the session. The lyrics can be found in the downloadable running order.
Download and print-off the activity sheets for parents to take home.
