Bubbles are great fun for little ones. Babies and toddlers are fascinated by them 鈥 they love the way they reflect different colours, float and pop in the air, on hands, and especially on their noses!
Bubbles keep your child entertained and promote great sensory play. And because they are so fascinated by them, they are a great tool to get chatting with them and help their language development.
How to chat through bubble play together
Playing with bubbles can help your little one learn and practise new words. While playing, you can talk to your little one about:
Size and colours. What colours do you see reflected in the bubbles? Use words like 'big' and 'small' to describe their size.
Actions and feelings - Use lot of words like 鈥榖low鈥 and 鈥榩op鈥. You can even talk about how it feels when the bubble pops on them and introduce new words this way.
As you blow bubbles, repeat both the word 鈥榖ubbles鈥 and your action, 鈥榖lowing bubbles鈥. You can try saying 鈥榬eady, steady鈥︹ and see how they respond to your words when you build anticipation.
Image caption, Bubbles are a great prompt for chatting to children.
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What are the benefits of blowing bubbles?
- Bubbles are a great way to capture your child鈥檚 attention through sensory play
- They can learn new words for actions, like 'pop' and 'blow' as well as directions, like 'up' and 'down'
- They can learn to take turns and boost their listening skills as you build their anticipation
How to make bubbles at home
You don鈥檛 always have to go out to the shops to buy bubble mix, you can make your own from the comfort of your home very cheaply.
This recipe makes 350ml of bubble mixture and it only takes five minutes to make.
You鈥檒l need:
鈥 50ml washing up liquid
鈥 300ml water
鈥 A container / old bottles
鈥 Spatula
1. Measure the washing-up liquid into your container.
2. Slowly add the water. Be careful not to create too many bubbles at this stage.
3. Gently stir the mixture together to combine.
4. If you can, let the bubble mixture rest before using it, as it will make your bubbles even better.
