Valentine’s Day: Bubbly Garland

This garland plays with the magic of bubbles- both making them and popping them! (Our daughter loved the process!)

This activity was part of our reader, Olga’s (who teaches English), Valentine’s Day Link Party:

http://olga-ekb.ru/story/2015-02-03/galereya-prazdnikov-valentines-day

Materials

• Smock
• Craft tray and/or plastic craft tablecloth
• Food colouring
• Water
• Dish soap
• Clear tape
• Small containers
• Pencil/eraser
• Ruler
• Cardstock
• Crepe, tissue paper or any bright type of paper you may have
• Elastic band
• Measuring cups or spoons (*Optional, you can approximate)
• Permanent marker (*Optional)
• Scissors
• Yarn, cord etc.
• Beads (*Optional)
• Hole punch
• Large needle (dull metal or plastic would work)* Optional
• Bristol board (*Optional)

Directions

• Draw out the letters that you would like on cardstock or a thicker style of paper.  We went with “LOVE”, one letter per page, using the edges of the paper to form the letters.  You could do this free-hand or with a ruler.

• Don your smock and cover your work surface.

• Place your paper (one sheet at a time) in your craft tray.

• Group your straws together and if need be, cut them to an equal length (you make want to cut them in half for younger children to handle more easily).  Tape your straws together.  (Have one person hold them together while one person wraps the tape around or if you want to have this ready in advance, use an elastic to hold the straws together while taping them.)  We suggest making a mark with permanent marker on one end of the straws so that the child knows which side not to put into her/ his mouth after dipping it into the bubble solution.  If there are many children doing this activity, you could also write their names on the straw bundles to avoid sharing germs.

• Add dish soap to water.  We went with approximately 1/2- 1 cup of water per container and a few table spoons of dish soap.

• Add your food colouring until you get the desired amount of colour.

• Dip one end of the straws (with the mark that you made previously) into the paint, bubble solution.  Put your straw bundle over you paper (as shown) and blow bubbles onto your paper.

• Carefully pop your bubbles.  We suggest using your pointer finger.

• Repeat with all of the pieces of paper, alternating colours should you like.  Wipe the craft tray in between if you don’t want colour mixing.

• Allow to dry overnight.

• Cut out your letters.

• Punch holes at the top of the letters.  We found two holes together provided some stability for the lacing.  We then backed our letters onto pink bristol board to make them more sturdy and re-punched the holes.

• Cut out rectangles of crepe or tissue paper (or both) and fold them accordion style (back and forth), taping and then punching a hole in the centre. (You made need adult assistance for this.)

• Lace your letters, beads (if you like) and tissue folds onto your yarn or cord.   To hold your letters in place, put knots on either side of each one.  You could also tape them in place with clear tape on the backs if you like.  If your yarn keeps fraying as you lace, tape clear tape around the end to make it stiff like the plasticized end of a shoelace. Or use a large, dull needle.  To hold your beads in place, lace them and then loop around and lace them again two more times, as shown in the photos.  We did this with the folds with one loop as well.

• Hang your garland and enjoy!

Purpose

• Fine motor skill development (lacing and folding)
• Experimenting with paint

Safety Notes

• Wear a smock and use a craft and/or a table cloth to protect your clothing and surfaces.
• Exercise care with scissors. Use with adult supervision.
• String, cord etc. can be a strangulation hazard, thus they are not meant for play and should be used with supervision.
• This project is not recommended for very young children due to possible consumption of the bubble solution.
• Beads can be a choking hazard, therefore keep out of the reach of children 0-3 years of age of those that tend to put things in their mouths.