Almost from birth, kids love bubbles. It often seems to me that bubbles have magical properties that adults are not aware of, kind of like the sound of the sleigh bell in The Polar Express that only those who truly believe can hear. I think Paul Rudd summed it up best in the movie Knocked Up when he said, "I wish I loved anything as much as my kids love bubbles!" Bubbles are cheap, readily available at home or at the store, and are a winning activity for kids from infancy through childhood.

While blowing bubbles can be tons of fun, you can pat yourself on the back for helping your child practice skills needed to reach important developmental milestones, too! During the first six months, babies need to be working on visual tracking, and bubbles floating past them are great attention-grabbers. As infants get older, they need to begin working on reaching for objects and trying to grasp them; again, this is a great skill to work on with bubbles. At the end of the first year, kids can practice their walking while trying to chase bubbles. During toddlerhood, kids and parents can work ton early physics concepts together as they make bubbles by shaking all kinds of large wands and other bubble-making instruments (even plastic six-pack holders work great) and try to get bubbles to stay off of the ground or change direction. Who knew the fun of bubbles could be so academic?!

Don’t forget the fun of bubble baths, too! There have been a few afternoons at my home when bubble baths have been the go-to activity to get us through. Kids get to play with bubbles AND water (what could be better?), and parents get calm, happy, clean kids. - Sara I.