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Summer is here. And with it comes sunny days and bubble filled afternoons. Perfect bliss.
Around here, bubbles are our thing in the summer. We love to blow them, paint with them and make them cover us from head to toe. Bubbles rock.
So, when thinking about bubble art ideas for kids recently, I created this Under the Sea Bubble Art Project. It’s a fun kids art idea for summertime or to use at a bubble birthday party. Check out the tips at the end to transform it into the perfect summer birthday party project for your next celebration.
Have you explored bubble art for kids yet? Basically, bubble art is when you paint with bubbles. You create the bubble paint by dying the bubble solution with different colors of food coloring. Then, you blow the bubbles over art paper. As the bubbles pop, they create a beautiful popped bubble design.
When looking at different bubble art, my first thought was swimming under water. Something about the popped bubbles and paint impressions made me want to dive right in.
So, I used our bubble art to create this under the sea layered art piece. Layered art uses different art techniques together. For this project, you make the bubble art and paint the watercolor sea animals.
It’s best to make the bubble art part first. While that dries, you can draw and watercolor your under the sea animals.
Since this is a summer art project that involves floating bubbles, bubble art is best made outdoors. Pick a sunny day and lay down newspapers or a tarp before starting. We made ours on the driveway and found out that bubble paint can stain if you’re not careful.
Before you begin, decide on how many different paint colors you want to present to the artists. If you are doing this bubble art project with more kids or younger littles, it might be best to have fewer colors.
For organizing the paints, a muffin tin works great. I created a paint palette for each artist using six cup muffin tin. I let them choose their favorite colors, so they each got a variety of options that they liked. Using one or two bubble blowers worked well and let them mix the colors too.
Check out these easy directions for making your own under the sea bubble art masterpieces.
You Will Need:
Two 4 fluid ounce bubble bottles or a large bubble mixture (affiliate) to pour into multiple paint palettes (perfect for a party)
A variety of food coloring or food gels (affiliate)
Bubble blowers (make your own or use the ones in the bubble bottles)
Mixed Media Paper (affiliate)
Watercolors (affiliate)
Watercolor Paper (affiliate)
Scissors
Muffin Tin (affiliate)
Popsicle Stick or Stirrer
White Glue
1. Fill each muffin tin about half way up with bubble solution.
Add 3 to 4 drops of food coloring into each cup. (If you are using food gel, you will need fewer drops to get a vibrant color.) The more drops you use, the brighter the colors will be.
2. Stir up each color using a popsicle stick or spoon.
3. Dip the bubble blower into a color of bubble paint. Blow the bubbles over the mixed media paper.
One technique that helped get vibrant bubble impressions was blowing close to the paper. This way the bubbles pop directly over the paper and create colorful circles.
When blowing the bubbles, you might notice that the colors aren’t as vibrant as you want. We found adding extra drops of paint – either from the same color or a different one – made the final bubbles a little brighter.
4. Once you have a variety of bubbles popped on the paper, let the art dry.
5. While the bubble art is drying, it’s time to work on your under the sea animals. You can use watercolor, pastels, markers or crayons. We made ours with watercolor paint and paper. Have the artists fill the paper with lots of different animals. They can also make sea monsters, shipwrecks and treasure chests. Whatever elements that they want to add to their under the seascape.
6. Once the sea animals are finished, cut them out. Arrange them on top of the bubble art painting.
Glue them down and let dry.
You can display your under the sea bubble art for kids in your art room, kids’ playroom or anywhere else that needs a refreshing summery touch.
Tips for Making Bubble Art for Kids at a Party
Bubble art is a fun craft for a child’s summer birthday party. Kids will love watching the bubbles pop and making different designs with them. Here are some ideas for making your bubble art station successful at your next celebration.
Stick with Bubble Art
Although for this project, we made under the sea art projects, for a birthday party, less is more. Instead of adding the under the sea animals, just stick with creating the bubble art. The fewer steps the better when managing a large group of littles.
Set up a Drying Space
Bubble art is lots of fun to make, but takes some time to dry. Set up a place for the kids to leave their artwork while they go enjoy the rest of the party. Hang a clothesline with clothespins or place them on spread out newspaper (make sure the finished art doesn’t blow away by securing with rocks).
Make Outside
As mentioned above, bubble art is best created outdoors. The bubbles can float around. Since the bubble paint has food coloring in it, if they pop inside it can stain everything around it. Keep this project outside and enjoy the sunshine.
Have a Helper
Although kids can make the bubble art on their own, it helps to have an adult assisting with this activity. They can help mix the bubble paints, make more paint when needed and hang up the finished artwork to dry.
Use Muffin Tins
When creating the bubble art, muffin tins make the best paint palettes. It keeps the paint in one space, can easily be refilled and makes clean up simple. For even easier clean up, use disposable muffin tins (affiliate). Then, you can just throw out the excess paint with less mess or wash them to use again.
Lots of Bubble Blowers
Each bubble bottle comes with one bubble blower. But, one bubble bottle will fill multiple muffin tins. Although you can use one bubble blower in multiple colors, you might need more bubble blowers if you are hosting a party. Instead of purchasing additional blowers, make your own. Check out the easy tutorial here.
Love this idea and want to save it for later? Be sure to pin it below.
This under the sea bubble art project is a fun summer activity. Kids will love mixing bubbles and art. And it’s fun to dream up an under the sea scene for the final painting.
Looking for more ideas of things to do with bubbles? Check out these awesome kids bubble activities that we love.
And if you are planning a kids summer party, we have lots of summer printables in our shop to make your celebration even more fun. You can find them here.
Happy Celebrating,
Natalie
