The magic of bubbles!

THE MAGIC OF BUBBLES

Babies love watching them float above and around them;
Toddlers love blowing them, chasing after them, jumping up to them, watching them 'pop' and of course... popping them themselves;
... and as children grow older, they love making bubble mixture, exploring and making different bubble sizes and bubble wands;
They are cheap, easy, portable (we have a little bottle with wand in the car and another in my handbag at all times!!), fun, festive and beautiful... we even had bubbles at our wedding! 

Very often, it's one of the things we love to do together when I get home from work in amongst a run, play and a laugh at the park.

BENEFITS OF BUBBLES

Visual tracking (focusing on and following bubbles)
Hand-eye coordination (reaching for and touching bubbles)
Turn taking (sharing!)
Bilateral coordination (dipping wand into bubble mixture container) 
Gross motor skill development and coordination (kids get to practise running, jumping, balancing, following and changing direction when chasing bubbles)
Language development: follow this link here at Mommy Speech Therapy   for a wonderful summary of how bubbles promote good language development, which I found via a gorgeous post about bubbles on 52 Days to Explore !
... smiles, fun and excitement!

BUBBLE RECIPES

via Early Childhood

1 cup of water
2 tablespoons glycerin
4 tablespoons of dish washing liquid
Mix together and it is ready to use
Shake well before use

via Bubble Blowers
Cyndi's bubbles:
 1/2 cup of dishwashing liquid (Dawn or Joy)
2 cups of water
2 teaspoons of sugar

Cyndi suggests adding a dab of food coloring for colorful bubbles. Mix the solution and place in a shallow pan (or refill your old bubble containers). NOTE: More recipes and fun with bubbles are available at the website link above.

...Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm off to the park now with Master B to blow bubbles - apparently I'm ready now that I have a yellow plastic workman's hard hat on (matching his!)

(photo taken at 23 months at our corner park - or as I like to call it... "our backyard"!)