Bubble Painting

Bubbles are such a quintessential summer activity, don't you think? If you're like us, they often become a year-round activity, too -- bubbles in the bathtub in the dead of winter are always a big hit at our house!

And even though blowing bubbles is a classic activity, finding a fun twist to add to it is always exciting. In that vein, here's an easy activity to do with your little ones that is part bubble blowing, part craft, and on our Summer Fun List: Bubble Painting!




Here's what you'll need:

*Bubble solution (or bubble juice, as it's called in our house)

*Bubble wands of different shapes and sizes

*Plastic cups

*Food coloring (you can also use squeezable watercolor base)

*Large paper (we used 4 sheets of scrapbook paper taped together)

Take the food color or watercolor, and mix it into the bubble juice in separate cups for each color. We used four basic colors: red, yellow, green, and blue


Tape the paper to a large upright surface -- we used our garage door; an easel would also work and probably be way easier! ;)

Then, take the bubble wands, dip them into the colored solution and blow towards the paper:





That's it!

It was fun to experiment with blowing big bubbles versus little bubbles; standing close versus farther away, and also seeing how the breeze affected the direction of the bubble. The best part was that it was rather unpredictable, so we weren't sure what our masterpiece would look like in the end... but because of the fun colors and different patterns, no matter what, it was sure to look great!


Once you are done with your bubble painting and it has dried, you can leave it as is, or use it as wrapping paper or as a card -- a great way to incorporate your kiddo's artwork into gift-giving!

We had a lot of fun with this activity and will definitely be trying it again, perhaps with different colors next time!

*A quick note about clean-up: the food coloring bubble solution does require warm water with a spritz of cleaning solution to get off of surfaces -- it came off our garage door right away that way. We also got a few splashes on our clothes, but a quick squirt of stain remover and a wash in the laundry got those out, too!

Summer Fun List 2013

Yikes! I haven't been around these parts since MAY! Eeeeee...What can I say? I've been procrastinating busy! ;) Actually, there is truth in that. June always brings end-of-the-year madness and since school got out 2 weeks ago, we've been busy having fun!

And to help document our fun, it's time for our annual Summer Fun List!

Last year, we had so much fun with our Summer Fun List and were able to complete almost all of the activities on it, so we knew that it would be a continuing summer tradition for our family. For this summer's list, I added many of the same activities that were tried and true because I knew that Choi Boy would love them, and I also thought that any repeated activities would also be met with new understanding and appreciation now that CB is older. We also added some new activities and included trips we had already planned onto our list, because who doesn't love things you can check off right away? ;)

For easiness' (or laziness' depending on how you look at it!) sake, I wrote up our Summer Fun List on our chalkboard this year. I figured if we wanted to erase a particular activity that for some reason we knew wouldn't work and add a new one in its place, it would be easy to do with the list on a chalkboard.

Here's what this year's list looks like:


Again, like last year, I wanted to make sure that the list had a good mix of activities, projects, and outings. I also wanted to make sure the list included a lot of low cost or free things (I LOVE free things!!). Finally, I also wanted to make sure the list wasn't too overwhelming and that completing most of it was attainable.

We've already checked off some of the things on our list and have scheduled dates to complete many others!

So far, we've already taken our first trip of the summer to Boston:

(Do you recognize some familiar faces??)

And we really enjoyed a concert at a local outdoor theatre!

(This is Elizabeth Mitchell and her band in concert. She is our favorite children's musician and is AMAZING in concert -- definitely worth catching if she's ever in your area!)

We've also taken a trip to our farmer's market and have begun our library's summer reading program. And even though some of the items on our list our things we do semi-regularly (such as visiting the farmer's market or going to our local farm), somehow, because they are on our list and we get to check them off, it makes the activities even more fun!

What activities do you have planned for you and your littles this summer?

P.S. On my Summer To-Do List is blogging. For reals, yo.