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Naperville
Thursday, March 28, 2024

Raise Your Play IQ – Learning through play with bubbles

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by Alix Tonsgard

Bubbles are a classic activity enjoyed by almost everyone both in the Museum and out. Like many experiences here at DCM, Bubbles are so much more than just fun. While playing with bubbles your child is strengthening their eye-hand coordination and gross motor skills, as well as language development (“Wow, that big one is really high up!”). Your child is also experiencing cause and effect (blow through the wand gently and watch what happens!) and basic physics (bubbles are actually round pockets of air or other gases encased in liquid). The learning opportunities that bubbles provide are endless; and it is their visual appeal, the challenge they present, and the sensory experience they provide that make learning FUN!

Children, especially infants and toddlers, learn through sensory exploration. The following are a few additional ways you can nurture a young child’s understanding:

Model language for your child. Talk about what you see, what they see and how it feels, etc. Modeling new language nurtures not only their understanding of new words, but also how to use them in future experiences.

Provide meaningful feedback.  Children take clues from others and will often spend more time extending their learning in an area where others are attending to their actions and providing positive responses. Saying things like, “How did you make that bubble?” will encourage your child to continue taking the next step in their explorations.

Model a different approach.  By doing this, you extend your child’s learning and help them understand yet another way to use the materials.

Suggest challenges. Comments like, “I bet we could make an even bigger bubble!” will help children practice problem solving and rethink the sequence of actions they have already taken.

Have fun with bubbles and exploring the learning opportunities this summer!

Alix Tonsgard is an early learning specialist at the DuPage Children’s Museum.

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DuPage Children's Museum
DuPage Children's Museumhttp://dupagechildrens.org/
The DuPage Children’s Museum’s mission is to stimulate curiosity, creativity, thinking and problem solving in young children through self-directed, open-ended experiences; integration of the arts, science and math; the child-adult learning partnership.

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