I wanted to start the year with a fun, hands-on, and very engaging units to get the students hooked on our thematic notebook activities. Usually I begin the year with our Five Senses unit, but I have found that particular unit requires a lot of cutting and writing – two fine motor activities that most students are still refining at this point in the year. I find myself teaching cutting and printing skills in a frantic way in order to get them ready for the Five Senses activities….and this is not helpful for anyone! So, this year, I decided to find a quick mini-unit that didn’t require as much of those two fine motor skills. Bubbles!! We began the unit by learning some facts about bubbles, including how they are made. Students even completed a diagram of a bubble! (Who knew?!)

The students were bubble blowing investigators. First, they had to predict or estimate how many bubbles they could blow in 60 seconds. Then in small groups, students took their own bubble bottles, pencils and Bubble Lab Notebooks outside with Mrs. Riley and got to work. (Initially, pre-Covid, my idea was to do this activity whole group. How lovely would it have been to see the children running around counting bubbles?) Not only did the Bubble Lab focus on counting, but it also introduced students to tally marks as a way to record their information. Take a look:

Students were surprised with how few bubbles they blew!

Today’s original lesson plan was to have a big bubble blow out. Students were going to use many different items to blow bubbles, seeing which items made the best bubbles. They were going to use straws and bowls filled with bubble solution to blow lots of bubbles. They were going to use their desks as a background for blowing bubbles….they were….I decided, due to our mask wearing rules and the fact that blowing bubbles requires students to remove their masks and blow out air, that I would put together a kit and send the items home. Parents, are you ready for a bubble party at your house?! Here’s what’s coming your way!

Students will receive a bottle of bubbles, a cookie cutter, a paper clip, a piece of string, and a custom bubble wand that the students made today during Friday Fun!

And here is the students’ recording sheet that I am sending home in each students’ Bubble Lab Notebook:

The perfect weekend activity!