The Chaos and the Clutter

Sharla Kostelyk

Taste Safe Apple Pie Sensory Bin

Cheerio type cereal, little apple candies, cinnamon sticks, cardboard strips, and a small bowl in a bin

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I’m not going to lie, taste-safe play ideas are my favorite. Anytime I can give my little one a fun sensory experience that doubles as a snack it’s a huge win. Our beautiful Taste-Safe Apple Pie Sensory Bin is a (primarily) taste-safe activity, so it’s okay to snack a little while playing. Set this up in the morning so kids can play and enjoy breakfast simultaneously. If you have busy kiddos who wake up moving, you know how valuable combining food with play can be.

The top half o the image shows the sensory bin from a more distant, top down view. The bottom half of the image shows a close-up of ingredients in a spoon hovering over a blurry sensory bin. Text in the middle reads "Taste Safe Apple Pie Sensory Bin."

Here’s to winning mamas! We all know this is an intense, but worthy gig. Sensory bins can be an easy and fail-safe part of your routine. Have a stash tucked away to improve any rainy day whether it is stormy on the outside or the inside. Nothing improves grumpiness faster! That’s because sensory play is calming. It provides a sense of safety for the vestibular system and helps children of all ages move back to parasympathetic mode. 

How to Make a Taste Safe Apple Pie Sensory Bin

Supplies Needed

A four part collage shows the ingredients for the activity in the first square. The second, third and fourth squares show different views of the taste safe apple pie sensory bin.

Step-By-Step Instructions

  1. Cut the card stock into strips. This will be used for the lattice crust. 
  2. Cover the bottom of the bin with Apple Jacks cereal.
  3. Place the rest of the supplies on top of the cereal.

Ways to Make the Taste-Safe Apple Pie Sensory Bin Work For You

  • Have kids follow a recipe to help develop cognitive skills. For example, one red apple, two green, and two scoops of Apple Jacks. 
  • Kids can also stack apple candies for a fine motor skill activity. See how many they can get before they all tumble down.
  • Use different tools to change things up from one day to the next and work on new skills! Start with a spoon or scoop. Then add a pair of child-friendly plastic tongs. Next, throw in a metal measuring cup. Try a few small wooden bowls. If you have a wheel-hungry kid, you can even throw in a couple of bulldozers to build that pie. I’m not even joking. 
  • Weaving the lattice crust is its own skill. It requires hand-eye coordination, planning, and spatial awareness. You can practice this skill separately to help ease into it. The same technique can be used to make an apple pie craft –giving you another opportunity to practice this skill with your little one.
  • Ask your child to talk about what they are touching. You might ask leading questions like: “Describe how smelling the apple candy makes you feel?” or “What can you tell me about Apple Jacks cereal?” or “What are the steps to building a (pretend) apple pie?” This encourages language development and helps strengthen neural pathway connections. 
  • Have your child sort red apples from green apples and red cereal from green cereal. Place one color in one pie crust and one color in the other. 
  • Encourage counting. How many apple candies fit in one pie crust? etc.

Close up of a child's hand scooping ingredients in or out of a pie shell in the sensory bin.

Books to Read with our Apple Pie Sensory Bins

We have two different apple pie sensory bins. This one is taste safe, and our other one is a completely different sensory experience. Perfect bins to use back-to-back when you can plan a trip to the orchard for picking apples, and read these books together at the same time. Want more book ideas? We’ve got a whole different list on our regular Apple Pie Sensory Bin so you have lots of options! 

The Apple Pie that Papa Baked by Lauren Thompson

Apples Here by Will Hubbell

The Apple Pie Tree by Zoe Hall

Apples by Gail Gibbons

How Do Apples Grow by Let’s Read and Find Out About Science
 
Close up of a spoon with apple candy hovering over the sensory bin.

Why Sensory Bins Make Sense

There is so much goodness in sensory play. The definition of sensory play is any activity that purposely engages the senses. Since our five senses are the primary way that children explore and learn about the world, every opportunity to stretch those brain muscles and play with materials that give feedback is positive. Problem solving skills are honed as children guess what something will feel like, experiment with material, test their theories, and come up with solutions.
 
Neural pathways are developed and strengthened as connections are made between how something looks or smells, how it feels to the touch, and how it behaves in a scoop or in the palm of the hand. The need for sensory input is satisfied, and if you have a sensory seeking kiddo who will get that input one way or another, time spent in sensory play is time not spent touching everything on every aisle in the hardware store, or unproductive making messes around the house.
 
Sensory play is well known to reinforce learning. That’s why it is so valuable to add books and cooking and apple picking and crafting and science experiments to the sensory experiences you provide. That’s a lot of benefits, and we’ve barely scratched the surface! Read more about the amazing benefits of sensory engagement through play.
 
A more distant view of the taste safe sensory bin with a "completed" apple pie in one of the crusts.

How to Make an Emotions Sensory Bin

teal bin filled with oatmeal and paintbrushes used to uncover emotion stickers on the bottom of the bin

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I’ve been wanting to put together this sensory bin for a while now, and circumstances kept intervening. It’s not even that hard — I’ve kept the whole thing very simple and easy. I finally had some time on my hands to make this one happen. An emotions sensory bin combines one of your child’s favorite ways to play with an important developmental milestone: emotional literacy. Add some great books, a few other ways to play, and interesting conversations, and you have yourself a learning unit that your child will benefit from for years to come. 

An emotions sensory bin showing a bin with ats, tongs, scoop, and emotions stickers.

Why Explore Emotions with Sensory Bin Play

I can think of no better way to explore emotions safely. Sensory play is calming to the central nervous system and helps your child move from parasympathetic nervous system (fight or flight) to the sympathetic nervous system. It is also allows for the safe physical expression of emotions, pressing, squeezing, and pulling to work through anger, fear, or anxiety without hurting themselves or others. This helps cortisol levels come down.

Sensory bin play is also grounding, giving your child a sense of his place in space and his connection to the physical world. Body awareness increases as children play with toys that provide sensory input, and this also helps them recognize emotions as they begin and build instead of after they spill over. Combined with the fact that the actual content of this bin teaches kids to identify, name, and talk about various emotions and you have a win-win play experience.

How to Make an Emotions Sensory Bin

Supplies Needed

Four steps to make an emotions sensory bin and play with it are shown. Place stickers on the bottom of the bin, add oats and tools, Find the stickers. Use a makeup brush.

Step-By-Step Instructions

  1. Put the stickers on the bottom of your sensory bin.  
  2. Cover with oats. 
  3. Add in any sensory tools and the makeup brush and have your kids explore and search to find each emotion.  

A sad face is exposed in the bottom of the emotions sensory bin with a makeup resting nearby.

Tips and Ideas for your Emotions Sensory Bin

  • Other sensory tools or figurines can be added to make the bin more fun to play with or more educational. 
  • Instead of oats, you can use various types of rice, quinoa, cereal, or water beads. 
  • You can make an emotion card and laminate it so your kids can check off each emotion as they find it.
  • Take the time to talk about each emotion to help your child learn more about emotions as well. 
  • Read books related to emotions to give your child the language necessary to discuss big emotions with you or a therapist.
  • Play with toys, games, and add more sensory activities to help your child form connections. We have a great list to get you started at the end of this post. 

A close up of the sad face sticker in a bin of oats.

More Ways to Play With Your Sensory Bin

  • Add more tools, such as tongs, scoops, buckets, bowls, cups, funnels, construction vehicles, etc. 
  • Practice counting as you find the emotions stickers. 
  • Encourage verbal expression, asking your child to describe each sticker and use emotion words etc. 
  • Tell a story as you uncover various emotion faces and turn each into a different character in the story. 
  • Remove all of the oats little by little into a large bucket until all of the stickers are exposed, then dump the bucket back in and play some more. 

Books to Read about Emotions

Toys and Games that Teach About Emotions

Don’t Go Bananas. A therapy game intended to help kids work through strong emotions.

Roll With It Coping Skills Dice Set. teaches 52 different coping skills for big emotions.

LeSong Plastic Sensory Emotions Shapes. These would be a fun add for your sensory bin! 

Wooden Emotions Magnets. Provide a way to explore emotions with a young child while you are working in the kitchen. Magnets can also be used on a sheet pan in the car, or on a piece of metal mounted on the wall at play height. 

More Great Ideas for Working with Emotions through Sensory Play

We have so many fantastic ways to explore emotions through play! Be sure to check out Emotions and Calm Down Strategies Mega Bundle. It has a huge stash of resources to help your child in this area. 

Play the Feelings Jenga Game to get your child talking about emotions as they work through the emotions of frustration, anger, and excitement caused by the game itself.

How to Work Through Emotions with My Child will give you coping skills and strategies to use as the parent in any big emotions situation.

Make sure to check out our Big List of Books About Emotions for Kids to get even more book suggestions!

The Emotions Sensory Bag and the Emotions Sensory Bottle are both fun new activities. Each pairs perfectly with our Emotions Sensory Bin and will also work well for younger children who aren’t quite ready for sensory bin play. 

Get even more ideas from this Big List of Ideas to Teach Kids About Emotions.

Honeycomb Sensory Activity

hexagons made of cardboard filled with honeycomb cereal on a yellow paper

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Ready to celebrate the bees and spring? Our fun and engaging Honeycomb Sensory Activity is a great way to start exploring the world of bees while also providing unique sensory feedback to help your child thrive. Interesting supplies. Fun Activities. A unique smell. Taste-worthy ingredients. When playtime comes, what more could any child want? 

The top half of the image shows the hexagons filled with honeycomb and bees. The bottom half of the image shows the hexagons before they are filled, with a child's hands holding a scoop. In the center, text reads "Honeycomb Sensory Activity."

If you aren’t sure why your child needs sensory play, read The Importance of Sensory Play for Children. It highlights all of the various developmental milestones directly impacted by sensory experience. It’s huge.

From fine motor skills to neural pathways to emotional regulation, sensory play builds up a child in all of the right ways. And it’s not a huge lift for the parent either. In fact, your child might get so engrossed in playtime you have a moment or two to breathe or a chance to fix a home-cooked meal (or ten) while they play at the kitchen counter.

You might have to put up with a little bit of mess every once in a while, but that’s a small price to pay. This type of play is a win for everyone, and we have so many ideas you will never run out. 

How to Make A Honeycomb Sensory Activity

Supplies Needed

  • Honeycomb Cereal
  • Empty Toilet Paper Rolls
  • Yellow Construction Paper
  • Small Toy Bees
  • Scoop or spoon

A collage of four equal squares shows 1) an image with the supplies: honeycomb cereal, toilet paper tubes, scissors, bees and construction paper, 2) an image of cut toilet paper tubes being flattened and folded, 3) an image of hexagons made from toilet paper tubes, and 4) an image of setting up the hexagons with the other supplies for sensory play.

Step-By-Step Instructions

  1. Flatten the toilet paper roll and cut it into sections. You need at least 7.
  2. Shape each section into hexagons.
  3. Place the hexagons on the paper in a honeycomb shape.
  4. Let kids scoop the honeycomb cereal into the toilet paper roll honeycomb.
  5. Let them add bees to the honeycomb if they want to.
  6. Encourage kids to talk about the cereal’s feel, smell, and taste.

Tips to Assemble your Honeycomb Sensory Play Activity

  • Use edible bees instead of toy bees for a fun treat. This is great for little ones who put everything in their mouth. We love this adorable option. This makes it a mostly taste-safe play experience as long as you can keep the cardboard out of their mouths.
  • To easily shape the hexagons, take a flattened section. Move to a spot ⅓ of the way across. The remaining section should be twice as big. Pinch each side there to form a rectangle. Then pinch the sides once more halfway across the long side of the rectangle.
  • To form the big honeycomb, place one hexagon on the paper. Then, add hexagons so they touch each side of the first one all the way around. You should have a total of seven once you’re done.

A small child's hands hover over a scoop of honeycomb cereal and hexagons are placed on yellow construction paper where honeycomb cereal has started to be scooped into the hexagons. A plate of honeycomb cereal sits nearby.

Make Sensory Play Even More Valuable with These Tips

Provide tongs for little hands and encourage your child to pinch the tongs to move the honeycomb. This works a different set of hand muscles necessary for later skills like scissors and pencil grip. You can also encourage your child to pick up the honeycomb between thumb and forefinger to practice pincer grip. 

Give your child a scoop or spoon so that he or she can work on hand-eye coordination and muscle coordination moving scoops of honeycomb into the hexagon shapes. 

If your child has experience with scissors, you can have them help with the cutting and folding of the toilet paper tubes to make hexagons. Just remember to demonstrate (don’t just describe), go slowly, and allow imperfection. This will add one more layer of working on fine motor skills, following directions, and hand-eye coordination. 

Ways to Extend This Sensory Play Activity

Practice counting. Have your child figure out how many pieces of cereal or how many bees will fit in each hexagon. You can also practice subtraction, addition, and if you write a number in each hexagon, one-to-one correspondence and number recognition.

Talk about shapes. Show your child images or objects shaped like hexagons and talk about the number of sides, etc.

Talk about beehives and honeycomb. Look at close-up images of beehives and bees found on the internet and compare the bees honeycomb to the one you made and the cereal.

Make our Bee Life Cycle Sensory Bin and learn about the life cycle of bees.

Practice verbal skills. Ask your child to describe the cereal and other supplies — what does it look like, how does it feel, what is the taste and smell, etc.  

Read books about bees and talk about how bees eat, how honey is made and what the bees do for our world. 

Get into the science. Do this bee pollination experiment, a fun honeycomb experiment, or watch a scientific video about bees together. 

Make bee crafts or bee artwork and display it. 

Contact a local beekeeper or ask your county extension office if they have any kind of bee education programs where you can taste honey, taste honeycomb, and learn about bees from a master.

Hexagons are placed on yellow construction paper and filled with honeycomb cereal. Bees have been placed in most of the hexagons. This is the honeycomb sensory activity.

Books to Read about Bees

Textured Water Beads Stress Ball

teal balloon with lumps in it

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You’ve seen this in the store, and have probably had children begging for them in the aisles, but did you know it’s actually easy and fun to make your own water beads stress ball at home? You’ll have stress relief ready in minutes and the supplies to make more as needed with minimal cost. As your child squeezes and releases the ball, the water beads move around and expand the balloon in curious ways. They are so fun to play with! 

What does a Water Beads Stress Ball do?

When you have nervous energy or stress, having something to do with your hands can be a life saver. It gives you something to focus on besides whatever you are anxious about. Squeezing the ball can be hard work, and will actually build grip strength, in addition to being therapeutic. Repetitive motion helps give the brain a chance to relax.

The tactile, bumpy nature of the textured water beads stress ball provides a distraction from ruminating thoughts and helps a person stay grounded in the present moment through sensory feedback.

This homemade version looks amazing and complicated, but it is actually really simple to make. Tweens and teens can easily get in on the excitement and make their own. Each one will cost just pennies! 

If you have experimented with fidget toys, you know that sometimes all your child needs in order to be able to focus in class, calm down during a test, or function in a loud environment is something to occupy their hands. 

In addition to stress relief and emotional regulation, the stress ball also provides a sensory experience with all of the benefits of sensory play. 

How to Make Textured Water Bead Stress Balls

Supplies Needed:

  • Funnel. The whole in the funnel needs to be bigger than the expanded water beads. You can also use an empty water bottle, cut in half. 
  • Water beads
  • Balloons

Step-By-Step Instructions:

  1. Blow up your balloon and let the air out. This stretches it so that it is ready.
  2. Add your balloon to the bottom of your funnel. 
  3. Add in your material (rice, flour, or water beads) until the balloon is full. 
  4. Tie the balloon and cut the end as close to the knot as possible. 

Tips for Making the Best Water Beads Stress Ball 

  • Pre-soak the water beads before you begin. You do not have to use the full amount of water required. The more excess water the beads absorb, the more easily they will break in the ball. This will take several hours — perhaps even a full day of soaking before the beads before you are ready to make your stress ball. 
  • You can add another balloon on top to make it more secure. 
  • You can keep squishing the material down into the balloon to fill it up or leave extra space, depending on your texture preference. 

What to do with a Stress Ball

Introduce the water beads stress ball at a time that is not stressful. Kids love to play with these because they feel strange and are fun. Have them practice squeezing the ball which provides more intense proprioceptive feedback and deep muscle work for the hands.

Talk about how it feels in their hands and how it makes them feel. Ask them questions about the texture, the experience, etc. Don’t wait for a moment of big emotions to hand your child a stress ball for the first time. 

Keep it in your go bag. Whether in a purse, a backpack, a lunchbox, a diaper bag, or in the back of the car, keep a stress ball with you so that it’s around when you or your child needs one. This is a great thing to have in your Calm Down Kit.

Encourage self-regulation. By making a stress ball available to your child, you can put the power of emotional regulation in their hands. Encourage them to find what they need to calm down in the moment, before a full on meltdown happens. Remind them often that they have access to a stress ball (and/or other stress management tools) and should find it when they need it. 

If needed, you can trade out different stress-relieving toys and fidget toys so that none of them become boring. Some children will want the same thing every time and some will want variety. Figure out what works for your child. We have instructions for making a variety of different sensory balls in case this one is not what your child needs.

*Please note that balloons are a choking hazard so adult supervision should be used at all times.

Chai Tea Playdough

Rolled out play dough with cinnamon sticks and star anise pressed into it.

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I love incorporated new and different ingredients into our playdough recipes! Embracing variety provides an ever changing sensory experience for sensory seeking kiddos of all ages. You might be surprised to know that even teenagers will come to the table to play when the playdough smells this good. Get your whole family involved in the making and playing with this Chai Tea Playdough recipe. 

The loose tea in the playdough adds texture and the aroma of the chai tea and spices smells amazing! Add cinnamon sticks and anise stars to your child’s play for a full sensory experience!

Chai Tea Playdough with cinnamon sticks and star anise for sensory play.

Chai Tea Play Dough Invitation to Play 

If you involved your children in the process of making the playdough (which I highly recommend) the invitation to play isn’t nearly as much about a verbal invitation as it is the provision of ingredients and supplies to encourage exploration and delight. Star anise and cinnamon sticks are the two items we already recommended having on hand. But it doesn’t have to stop there! A well-rounded collection of playdough tools and toys is an excellent investment.  Since we have a pretty large collection of these tools I like to rotate the selection to keep playdough play fresh and new. Here are a few of our favorites: 

In addition to store-bought and playdough specific tools you can also gather items you already have around the house for your children to use. Since this is taste-safe playdough, you can use standard kitchen items like rolling pins, cookie cutters or cookie stamps, and child-safe knives. 

Other items from around the house can be great additions to your invitation to play! Think of things that can make impressions in the dough: varying sizes of bubble wrap, brushes, buttons, coins, straws, plastic silverware, plastic magnet letters, dice, etc. 

Though not taste safe, found items in nature can also be fun! Pinecones, rocks, sticks, holly leaves, acorns, walnuts, shells, and fossils are all great examples of things you can bring inside for playdough play. Ask your kids what else they can find to use in the playdough. They always have the best ideas!

Rolled out play dough with cinnamon sticks and star anise pressed into it.

Chai Tea Playdough Extension Activities

If the pure sensory experience a a delicious smelling dough with a funky texture isn’t enough for your kiddo, you can always add extra activities to tie the play dough play into other subject areas. From tie ins with great literature to reinforcing math concepts, play dough is a great learning aid. Here are a couple of examples.

Demonstrate simple math concepts using LEGO® impressions in the playdough. Practice addition (adding or counting the dots), subtraction (smoothing out the dots to subtract them), or multiplication (lining up the rows of impressions and counting. the outside two rows to multiply, then physically counting the full total to show how that worked.)

Read books such as Have You Seen My Acorn. Make impressions in the playdough with an acorn to mark the squirrels progress as he quizzes all the animals and chases down clues. Provide your child with a bag of Chai Tea Plaudough with an acorn hidden inside as you finish reading the book and provide an invitation to play, talking about the book as you play together. 

Chai Playdough Recipe

  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 cup salt
  • 1 Tablespoon cream of tartar
  • 1/2 Tablespoon ground cinnamon
  • 1/2 Tablespoon ground ginger
  • 1 cup water
  • 1 Tablespoon vegetable oil
  • 3-4 bags of chai tea

Step-By-Step Instructions

  1. Add the flour, salt, cinnamon, ginger and cream of tartar to a medium mixing bowl. Open 2 tea bags and sprinkle the contents into the flour mixture. Whisk to combine and set aside.
  2. Add the water to a medium saucepan and heat to boil. Remove from heat and add 1-2 tea bags and steep for 3-4 minutes.
  3. Add the vegetable oil to the hot tea mixture. Stir to mix.
  4. Gently pour the flour mixture into the saucepan and stir continuously until a large lump of dough forms.
  5. Allow the playdough to cool for 5 minutes before handling.
  6. Transfer the chai tea playdough to a flat working space and knead for 3-4 minutes or until soft and pliable.
  7. Store in an airtight container (or Ziploc bag) for up to 2 weeks.

Chai Tea Playdough with rolling pin, star anise, cinanmon sticks and other tools.

Why Play with Play Dough? 

The sensory benefits alone make the mess of making and playing with play dough a worthwhile experience for children. The smells, the textures, and the proprioceptive feedback provided during playdough play will help a child feel more grounded and secure. As if the sensory benefits are not enough, your child will also be improving fine motor skills, developing cricital thinking skills (What will happen if I do it this way?) and practicing verbal skills (“Mommy, look at the cake I just made!”). If encouraged, playdough play can also lend itself toward pretend play, storytelling and more! Giving your child rich and enticing free play opportunities can only help in so many ways.

Chai Tea Sensory Playdough with chai tea on the side.

 

Bubble Painting Fish and Turtle

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If you are looking for a fun and easy ocean craft you can do with household supplies you already have, try bubble painting a fish and a turtle with your kids. This exciting process art activity engages your kids in a rich sensory experience that also inspires creativity. It’s simple to do and works for all ages, as long as the artist can blow through a straw. 

The top half of the image shows two cups filled with bubbles, overflowing onto the paper to create bubble art. A straw is coming out of one of the cups. The bottom half of the image shows the finished process art. In the middle, text reads "fish and turtle bubble painting".

A win-win activity, bubble painting provides gustatory (oral) sensory feedback, helps increase fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination, stimulates the imagination, while delighting your kids at the same time. When finished, your child will have a unique work of art to enjoy.

Supplies for the Bubble Painting Fish and Turtle

  • Small Cups. Disposable cups make clean-up easier.
  • Bubble Solution. You can use a store-bought mix or make homemade bubble solution (leave out the essential oils from this recipe for this activity.)
  • Green and Blue Food Coloring.
  • Straws.
  • Thick White Paper. The kind meant for watercolor or mixed media would be good.
  • Googly Eyes or Stickers. Googly eyes that have a sticker backing are just as great for fine motor skills as the type you have to glue, and are a little less aggravating.
  • Markers or Crayons.
  • Scissors. To cut out the fish after you are finished. You could then make it into a magnet, use it it as a gift tag, etc.
  • Art Tray. I love these handy trays to keep all the mess contained. You can also use a plastic tablecloth, old newspapers, etc.

Instructions to make a Bubble Painting Fish or Turtle

  1. Fill cups 1⁄2 way with bubble solution
  2. Add 3-5 drops food coloring into each cup
  3. Place cardstock into tray
  4. Hold cup with bubbles over the paper
  5. Blow into each cup through a straw, allowing bubbles to spill over the cup and onto the paper
  6. Immediately pat dry.
  7. Once dry, add googly eyes.
  8. Color the outlines of the animals using markers or crayons.

A collage image shows four equal squares containing a different step in the process of bubble painting a fish and turtle. First image shows the cup, paint, art tray and paper. Second image shows cups with bubbles and straws on top of paper. Third and fourth image show bubbles overflowing from the cup onto the paper to create art.

Tips for the Best Bubble Painting Experience

I’ve been doing bubble painting with my kiddos since my oldest were little, and I have some tips to make things easier and better all around.

Do not use paint with younger kids. Use food coloring, because it is taste safe in the event this mouth-centered activity goes a little awry.

Throw the mess away. I recommend using disposable straws, and not a reuseable straw since it will be tricky to get the paint washed out. 

Thin as needed. If the bubble solution is to thick to blow easily, just add a little water at a time till you get the perfect viscosity.

Wear old clothes. Because you need to use food coloring, getting stains out of clothing might be tricky. You probably will be able to get stains out, but it might be more trouble than it is worth if you can find paint clothes that don’t matter. 

Take it outside. The easiest way to contain the mess is to do the whole project outside where it can be washed away when you are finished. 

Poke a hole. If you make a hole or slit in the straw about one inch below the top, it will help prevent sucking the liquid up into the mouth. This is not foolproof, but it helps.

Important Note: Only do this activity with kids who are able to blow through a straw without sucking up the bubble mixture. 

Variations for this Activity

Experiment with paints and colors. If you have older kids with little to no risk, you can experiment with different types of non-toxic paints for a more intense color and different effects. You can combine different colors and see what happens if bubbles are dipped into two different colors. 

Different Tools. The size of the straw can change up the results. Your child might also enjoy using a bubble wand instead of a straw.  

Use different bubble solutions. Each bubble solution is different. Some make big bubbles and some make tiny bubbles. Some make super strong bubbles and some are just normal. You can find all kinds of recipes on the internet to try, or you can just buy a bottle at the local store.

Make it a print. Instead of overflowing bubbles onto the paper like we did, you can instead fill up your art tray with bubbles and then press paper down onto the bubbles to make a print.

Try the blowover method. Take the paper outside and blow the bubbles onto the paper using a bubble wand. 

Cups overflowing with bubbles rest on watercolor paper, and bubbles cover the paper as they leave the cup. Each cup contains a straw.

What to Do With Your Bubble Paintings

Once you have the little fishies or turtles painted and drawn, you can cut them out. Then, you can glue magnets on the back to make refrigerator magnets or a magnet fishing game. You can use them on notecards. They can be hung on a mobile or straight on a wall. Fish and turtles can be used to decorate containers, classrooms, posters, and more! They could even be turned into ornaments.

Frequently Asked Questions

I have a toddler. Can we enjoy bubble painting?

Yes. As long as your child can blow through a straw and isn’t likely to suck through the straw, you can have fun with this activity. Your toddler will be captivated by all of the swirling, poppable color. 

I have a tween. Is bubble painting worth it? 

Yes. Older kids and adults will enjoy experimenting with different techniques, effects, and ideas to come up with even more creative bubble art.

Why should I care about doing process art with my kids?

Process art is all about the experience. Its not about the end result at all — there is no judgement. Your child is free to explore and become captivated by the experience without fear. 

More Sensory Painting Activities