Sensory Bubble Play Makes Sense
A child’s brain needs massive amounts of sensory stimulation for development. How can you get a cleaner activity than sensory bubble play with soap and water? The early years are the most sensitive time for brain growth. 90% of the brain develops by the age of 5. Children’s play is critical for sensory input and children play with far more than toys.
One morning we added a big squirt of dish soap to two cups of water in the blender. This needed to get mixed on high to get thick soap bubbles. Once the container was almost full, we dumped it out into the sink. Two or three batches made heaps of bubbles for playing. Another great idea is a large bin or container set on a big towel on the floor.
First, Little Sister just liked to get her hands all covered with the soapy solution. She smoothed it over her hands and lower part of her arms like lotion. Then, she scooped up handfuls of bubbles and piled them into a mountain in the middle of the bin. After she explored the sensation and piling enough, I gave her a few small toys to drop into the bubbles. The bubbles swallowed them up and she had to use her hands to find them. As she played, it was simple and fast to whip up another batch of soap bubbles so she had lots to play with.
Big Sister showed her how to attach a few bubbles to her chin to make a snowy-white beard. Both kids slowly dipped their chins into the solution and checked out each others face. Of course, sometimes they got the soap past their chins and covered their mouth or got a few up their nose but this is part of the fun and learning. Little Sister didn’t seem to mind the taste. She put a bit of soap on a cloth, then her lips, and tried blowing bubbles that way.
After their sensory bubble play, clean up was simple–pull the plug, but it did take a bit of time to rinse out all the bubbles. Soap bubbles can be messy, as so of us have experienced from accidentally using dish soap in the dishwasher, but this was a clean way to have fun. Can also be done in the tub or while doing dishes. Might this be your child’s play-of-the-day?