Bubble Painting and a Spanish favorite, "De Colores"

Children yearn for and need "real life" experiences such as reading (real books), playing in the backyard or at a park, creating and enjoying music and creating and enjoying art...to name only a few.  Here is a really fun activity with many educational benefits as well....Bubble Painting!  It's simple, take a large piece of white paper outside and attach it to either a fence, table, wall or door at child height.  Divide some bubble solution (either homemade or purchased) into separate containers and add a drop or two of food coloring to each container (a different color for each container is even more fun).  Now for the real fun....invite your young artist to stand near the white paper (maybe 6-7 inches away) and begin to blow bubbles at the paper.  As the bubbles burst on the paper the food coloring will make colored rings all over the paper.  For added musical fun, play "De Colores" (I have included the English translation..at the bottom of this entry) for your young artist to listen to while completing his/her masterpiece.  A few educational and developmental outcomes of this activity: 1. color recognition; 2. primary and secondary colors; 3. practice identifying colors in English and Spanish; 4.  breathe control - how far can your artist "fly"  his/her bubbles and 5.  listening to another language.   Most importantly, your child needs you to be present with him...watching her, cheering him on and noticing how she made her work of art - this sends an important message to your child, a message that you are more important than the laundry, dinner or bills...in fact you are the most important person to me at this present moment.  Being in the present, as adults, is a challenge...but your child needs to see the "I LOVE YOU" message as much as hearing it.

 

“De Colores”

Traditional Mexican Song

“Loose” English translation

In the spring the countryside

is covered in color.

And the birds who come

from afar are colorful.

The rainbow shines in brilliant color.

And I love best, all that is colorful.

I'm new at this.....

Hello...
This is my first attempt at a blog....so please bear with me as I learn the "ins and outs" of blogging.  My goal is to make weekly entries..so as the school year goes--I will do my best.

In our busy technological world we live in, children really need and yearn for real "face" time.....so let's try to take one evening this week, shut-off all technology and spend some quality face-to-face time with your little one.  Maybe you play a game, sing a song, play instruments together,paint a picture, color, read a book (a real book) or simple just visit...but as each of us yearns for a real connection with another human, so do our children.