Bubble Prints

Today we made bubble prints. This is a messy one, but oh so much fun! I have done the straw version in the past, but today we tried blowing colored bubbles on paper as well. First, I filled a bowl with a bubble solution. You can use the store bought kind or make your own using about 2 tablespoons of dish soap to about 1 cup of water. I then added a good squirt of liquid watercolors (probably 2 tablespoons worth). I have mixed in tempera paint in the past and it does work, but liquid watercolors are ideal. Mix it up, and bring it outside. As I mentioned before, this is a messy project so cover your area or do it somewhere that can stand a few spills. I made two bowls of colored bubbles, one red and one purple. Give your child a straw and let them start blowing bubbles. Hollin turned 4 last month and can do this without drinking the solution, I would suggest that you blow the bubbles for anyone under 3 and watch your child carefully at any age--it is not uncommon for children to accidently (or purposefully) taste the solution. Once they have blown enough air into the bubble solution that is has risen above the surface you simply press a sheet of paper onto the bubbles. I like to use blank index cards for this. You can make lots of small prints that can later be used as cards or for collage projects. You can repeat this process with different colors and multiple times with each sheet of paper. Hollin wanted to immediately wipe off any bubbles that transfered onto the paper which is okay and totally optional. The results are amazing. Do as many or as few bowls of color as you wish.

We also tried to blow colored bubbles onto paper. I added a few squirts (I am rarely exact in any sort of measuring) of liquid watercolors to bottles of bubbles. We made one orange, one blue and one green. It worked really well. It was fun trying to get the bubbles to land on the paper. The ones that got away did not make a mess as I had thought they might. Hollin did spill an entire container on the concrete patio that has not scrubbed out just yet despite the paints being washable, so be careful! I used newsprint paper for this with plans to use it as wrapping paper. If have also heard of people placing paper in a big box and blowing the bubbles into the box--great idea if you plan on doing this indoors.