Bubbles!

 

This year our local library (Commerce Township Community Library) is offering special children’s programs that emphasize Science, Technology, Engineering and Math, they use the acronym STEM for these story times.   Our family had a great time at the first program which was based on BUBBLES!  This enriching evening made me think about how well bubble experiments could fit into science units about states of matter.

Miss Betsy, one of the children’s librarians, started out by discussing a few characteristics of fiction, and read a fun story that went with the Bubbles theme!

Later she talked about non-fiction and read another great book.

She also shared a cute poem about bubbles, using the flannelboard.

 

Betsy used round felt circles, to represent the bubbles.  When she put them on the flannelboard she gave the children a chance to count along with her, reinforcing one to one correspondence and left to right tracking.  The children also practiced counting backward as she removed the bubbles while they recited the poem together.

Next the children went to the tables where materials were set out for them to experiment with bubble blowing.  Each child was given a small aluminum pan containing bubble solution, and a cone rolled out of regular xerox type paper and fastened with tape.

She told them to dip the large end of the cone into the solution quickly (so it wouldn’t get too wet) and blow into the smaller end.  It was so fun to watch them try it out, they worked great!  I had never tried a bubble blower like this!

One of the challenges of a library program like this is the wide variety of the children’s ages and abilities.  Also, even though they require preregistration, they never know for sure how many children will actually show up.   They stated that the program was developed for pre-K to 1st graders, but all ages were welcome, the children who came ranged in age from 2 to about 8.  All the children were able to use this cone and blow great bubbles!   My grandchildren are 3 and 5, and they loved it!

After the children played for awhile Betsy asked them to touch a bubble with their finger and notice what happened.  As expected, the bubbles popped.  Then she asked them to try poking a small (coffee stirrer type) straw into the bubble.

Okay, so I am no scientist, but I did not know you could poke a straw into a bubble without breaking it!  It works best if the straw is dipped into the bubble solution first!

Next each child was given a recording sheet and asked to predict what kind of bubbles they would make by using bubble blowers of different shapes.  They drew their predictions on their chart.

After predicting, she passed out bubble blowers made from pipe cleaners that were twisted into the shapes on the chart.

The kids had so much fun trying them out!

Then Miss Betsy read an excerpt from a book about bubbles that explained why all the bubbles were round, regardless of the shape of the blower.

It was such a fun evening!  I loved the relaxed atmosphere, the children could take their time playing with the materials and making their own discoveries!  Owen had fun making a bubble land back in the bowl of bubble solution.

 

Here are a few more books about bubbles.

 

 

Each family was offered a recipe for Bubble solution to make at home.

We are looking forward to another fun STEM story time soon!

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