Frugal Summer Fun with Kids: Bubble Painting

We gave this Bubble Painting idea a try. I poured some bubble solution into various containers (because I didn’t want to color entire bottles of bubbles) and added food coloring. Be very generous with the food coloring. I used 5 or 6 drops for just the tiniest bit of bubble solution we were using and the colors were very light on paper.

Bug is not quite yet adept at blowing bubbles well…so his came out with big drips on the paper. Which brings me to a tip – if you can hang your paper and blow the bubbles at it, it works better. Then your wand won’t drip onto the paper like it does when you’re leaning over it.

When the bubbles land on the page, it leaves a colored ring and when it pops it makes colored splatters. If you can get the paper to “catch” the bubbles without them popping they will leave darker rings. I couldn’t keep Bug from popping them immediately but the longer you let a bubble sit the darker the circle will be when it does pop. I think they turned out pretty cute.

We also tried this with some Crayola Colored Bubbles that Bug had gotten a while back but I had yet to venture to use. Verdict? INCREDIBLY MESSY. It says they are washable and that’s true, they are – they wash off skin and clothes easily. But to me washable means, “Hey, this will wash off easily if you happen to get some on you” not “We made these washable because you’re going to get it on you from head to toe and on anything within 10 feet of you.

This time I hung the paper on the fence and as you can see, the colors are much bolder and brighter. But if you will notice, there are green splatters on Bug’s arm and shoulder. And that’s nothing compared to what the front of him looked like when he was done. I had to hose him off. AND I still have green and orange spots on my driveway. So…beware. You might want to stick to the DIY kind with food coloring. ;)