Bubbles

• To allow the children to discover what a bubble is.
• To show the children the concept of SPHERE as opposed to just round or circle.
• To have children create bubbles using different utensils.

• Bubbles by Mercer Mayer
• POP! A Book About Bubbles by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley

• 20 Aprons – Child size
• 12 Dishpans – Rubbermaid 11.5 quart size
• 4 Eggbeaters
• Marbles (“soap bubble” type – blue, clear)
• 3 Spring-type plunger beaters
• Wire whisks (5 long, 5 medium, 5 small)
  

• Dish Detergent (Joy or Dawn – one 22oz. bottle for 15-18 children)
• Multicolored pipe cleaners (1 box)
• Plastic straws (average 4 per child)
• Water (approximately ½ gallon per child)

• Levenson, Elaine. Teaching Children About Physical Science: Ideas and activities every teacher and parent can use. TAB Books, 1994
• Zubrowski, Bernie. Bubbles. Little, Brown. 1979

• Paper copies of the bookmark are included in the kit. PDF and JPEG copies are available here.
  • PDF - 4 bookmarks per page. Ready to print in color.
  • JPG - single high quality jpeg image.

• Objectives
  • To allow the children to discover what a bubble is.
  • To show the children the concept of SPHERE as opposed to just round or circle.
  • To have children create bubbles using different utensils.

• Introduction
  • Ask “What is a bubble?” “What do we need to make bubbles?”.
  • Talk about shape/size/color/feel of a bubble.
  • Show bubble marbles. Notice how the color seems to change against different colored backgrounds.

• Program
  • Read story – BUBBLE BUBBLE by Mercer Mayer.
  • Give each child (or pair of children) a dishpan of water.
  • Squirt in a big squirt of Dawn or Joy dish detergent – are there bubbles yet? What else do we need? (Air) How do we get some in? Hand out various beaters and see what happens. Do different ones make different kinds of bubbles? Hand out straws – are the bubbles bigger? Why? What makes the most bubbles? What makes the biggest bubbles?
  • Make different shaped wands with the pipe cleaners. Can you get a square/triangular/rectangular bubble according to shape of wand? Why not? (It will always be round because of the equal pressure inside and outside.) The size will change, but the shape remains the same. Does it make a difference blowing through the wand or just moving it gently?
  • Experiment – can you catch bubbles in a dry hand? In a soapy wet hand? What happens if you put a bar of soap in?

• General
  • If you have the children standing at a table, be sure it is low enough so that they can still have the dishpan at approximately waist level. If the table is too high, put the pans on the floor.
  • If children stand, they need aprons on to keep them dry; the table and floor will get wet, to varying degrees. If dishpans are on the floor, the children will kneel and not need aprons, but the floor will get much wetter. Outside on the grass is great, but too much of a breeze can be frustrating.
  • It worked nicely putting the children in a circle and putting an extra dishpan in the middle for the “tools”. That way they could easily exchange whisks and beaters to try different kinds and they didn’t drip on the floor. Used straws, often having fallen in the soapy water, could also be tossed in there for neater cleanup later.
  • Comment: During the dry summer, we added the conservation note by recycling the water – we poured it out on library flowers and lawns to help them grow and the soap keeps the bugs down without hurting anything. It also keeps from having a big pile of suds in a little sink.