Bubble Wrap: Pop or Print

Before you begin:  If you don't have any bubble wrap at home, you can look for it at recycling centers or possibly ask for a donation of used bubble wrap from department stores. Otherwise, it can
be purchased by the roll and sometimes the sheet at Target, Wal-Mart and the like.

The best and most obvious choice is to pop it!

Instruct your child to keep the bubble wrap away from faces and especially mouths, as well as anything hot of course, or something that could become clogged like the toilet or sink. Then again, in that case you might choose not to plant the idea in their heads!

Let your child hold a piece of bubble wrap about 1'x1' and pop it as they please. Talk about how it sounds, feels, and looks before and after it is popped. Allow them to pop it with fingers, elbows, feet, toes, and knees. If you like, turn on music and allow them to pop to the beat as
they parade around the living room.

Bubble wrap is also a wonderful way to do print-making. Print-making is when you transfer an image from one surface to another via an ink medium. The plate or screen -or in this case, sheet of bubble wrap- is called the matrix. The prints are called impressions. A group of prints made at the same time is called an edition.

In addition to bubble wrap, you will also need paper and paint and potentially a brush or sponge.

In a prepared space (i.e. the table or patio floor covered with newspaper, your child covered with a paint smock, and all pets secured in a separate room) allow your child to apply tempera paint to the textured side of the bubble wrap.
They may use their hands or a brush, and cover as little or as much of the bubble wrap as they choose. You may, depending on your child's understanding, wish to explain that painting more of the bubble wrap will make a bigger picture at the end. Feel free to experiment with multiple colors as well.

When the bubble wrap is painted, help the child lay the paper on top of it, and model how to press the paper onto the bubble wrap, creating the impression. Allow your child to press the paper to the wrap using a flat hand with a sliding motion.  Help your child slowly and carefully peel off the paper.

Wha-la, a bubble print!

You can reuse the matrix (bubble wrap) without adding more paint and compare the impressions, reapply paint and try again, or clean the bubble wrap and try again. Enjoy the process!

Tip: A great way to display child art in your home without having it take over your home is with a bulletin board. Obtain a bulletin board that you would be proud to hang on your wall. A picture frame-like quality is nice. Use this space for new art and old favorites. The keeps art in good condition, makes it easy to rotate pieces, and instills a sense of pride in your child for his creative work.

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A print is made in the likeness of it's original. Similarly, we are made in the likeness of God. He is the artist, the creator; we are the art, the created. We are not the same as God, but we carry his likeness in our mind, body and spirit. We are his wonderful art!


"For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well." Psalm 139: 13-14