Bubble art

Kids love painting. And kids love blowing bubbles. Well even better than either of those is...

This activity is so simple to set up and kept D busy for ages. In the end I had to tell him to clear everything away because it was tea time!

I first saw the idea here. Her child was quite a bit older than D though so I wasn't sure if he'd be able to do it and/or find it fun. But it was definitely yes on both counts :)

All you need is some paint and some bubble mix. Both mine came from Poundland so you definitely don't need any expensive equipment! Squirt some paint in a small cup/container (I used our Babycups as happened to have them in the cupboard and they were the perfect size!) and then top up with bubble mix. Aim to have a ratio of about 1:2 and then mix gently (you don't want to make it all frothy). Then lay out your paper, grab your bubble wand and you're good to go...

I can see a hundred different variations of this activity in my head but this is what we've done so far:

Using watercolour paper

This was the first way we tried. I love using watercolour paper for things like this as it absorbs any excess moisture and doesn't warp as it dries.

Just getting going

POP!

Yep he then started blowing bubbles on his hand!

D got the hang of it much more quickly than I thought he would :)

Love the finished pics

Under a blacklight

Our neon paints (from Rainbow Creations) just keep giving and giving :) here I just used them instead of regular paint and then set up the blacklight in D's bedroom (the darkest room in the house).

Blacklit bubble!

Warning - there is bubble splash back so your hands will get neon-ed!!

Love how these pics look great under the blacklight or in daylight!

How cool is the splatter pattern?!

The neon colours also look great away from the blacklight

With a bubble gun 

Bubble-tastic

We also did this using our blacklight - not a great pic as it was dark and D got a bit excited by the massive pile of bubbles! Next I want to use the bubble gun with regular paint in the daylight and maybe set up a long track of paper in the garden and let D run up and down it shooting bubbles :)

On a giant bit of paper

Bubble train...

He loved popping the bubbles and watching them splat outwards

D really enjoyed having a massive blank canvas and he spent a long time blowing bubbles. We also talked about the different colours and how the paint collects in each bubble and then splatters out when the bubble pops.

You can see the yellow paint collecting inside the bubble

Finished picture

And lastly we tried it with lots of straws 

Ginormo-bubble

This was actually D's least favourite variation of all - maybe because the straw bundle was quite large for him? But he still enjoyed making bubble mounds and then whisking the paint/bubble mix together :)

******

This activity was so fun (even my OH couldn't resist joining in!) and you can make some lovely pictures. Some of D's I've mounted on coloured card so he can use them as thank you cards and others I've cut to make homemade gift tags. If you use regular paper instead of the thicker watercolour sheets you could even use it as wrapping paper.

I'd love to see any pictures if you try it :)