When the weather starts to grow cold and snowy, we sometimes find ourselves battling a bit of cabin fever. On these days we find ourselves doing lots of coloring, playing with playdough, snuggling up to watch a movie…you know the drill. But sometimes we need a fun and engaging, boredom-busting activity to break up the monotony, and bring a little excitement into the house. These two large-scale Bubble Wrap Painting activities are just the trick!
Bubble wrap always seems to work wonders. I’ve never met a kid (or adult, for that matter) that doesn’t enjoy playing with bubble wrap. No one can resist popping bubbles! For that reason, we always seem to have a large quantity of bubble wrap on hand. I also happen to love theΒ fun beehive pattern, and I figured it would make the perfect painting utensil for some simple arts + crafts activities!
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Bubble Wrap Stomp Painting
As I mentioned before, part of the appeal of bubble wrap is the joy that comes with popping the bubbles. One of our little nugget’s favorite things to do with bubble wrap is to jump and stomp on it, in order to achieve the satisfactory popping noises. So, I decided to combine this active and engaging popping activity, with a little paint and a big sheet of paper. π
To create your own bubble wrap stomp painting, you will need the following:
- Bubble Wrap (we used small bubbles)
- Packing Tape
- Large Sheet of White Craft Paper (I ordered this 24″ x 200 ft. roll from Amazon)
- Plastic Tray or Cookie Sheet
- Paint
Cut two squares of bubble wrap. Take one square and wrap it around your little one’s foot, securing it with some packing tape. Tape the other square of bubble wrap to the other foot. Next, pick out some paint colors and squirt them onto the plastic tray or cookie sheet. Roll out your large sheet of white craft paper, and set your paint-filled tray/cookie sheet at one end. Then it’s time to pop and paint!
Help your little one step onto the tray/cookie sheet. Depending on how much paint is on the tray, it could be slippery, so make sure to give them some support so they don’t slip and fall. Then have them step out onto the paper and go to town…walking…jumping…skipping…hopping – whatever their heart desires! Our little nugget pretended to be a dinosaur, stomping and marching around. π She loved all of the colorful dinosaur footprints she was creating on the paper, but the best part was the sound of the bubble wrap popping beneath her feet!
Rolling Pin Bubble Wrap Painting
When our daughter tired of stomping around our kitchen, and when all of the bubble wrap on her feet had been popped…we switched things up a little bit and gave our arms a little workout. We utilized all of the same supplies as the previous activity (plus one additional tool), so it was super easy to setup!
To create your own rolling pin bubble wrap painting, you will need the following:
- Bubble Wrap (we used small bubbles)
- Packing Tape
- Large Sheet of White Craft Paper (I ordered this 24″ x 200 ft. roll from Amazon)
- Plastic Tray or Cookie Sheet
- Paint
- Rolling Pin
Start by measuring out a piece of bubble wrap to go around your rolling pin. Feel free to roll the bubble wrap around the rolling pin a few times (for extra popping potential)! Secure the bubble wrap to the rolling pin using a couple of small pieces of packing tape. Next, roll out another large sheet of white craft paper. Pick out some new paint colors (we chose to stick with two paint colors for this activity, so that we didn’t end up with a big brown painting). Squirt your paint onto the tray/cookie sheet. Let your little one roll the rolling pin on the tray/cookie sheet to gather up some paint. Then start rolling onto the paper!
We loved watching the intricate beehive pattern transfer onto the paper. And our little nugget had a blast using the rolling pin for a painting activity!
When our large-scale bubble wrap paintings were dry we hung them up on our art wall. You could also cut different shapes or animals out of the painted paper and display those, or utilize them for a different activity!
What kinds of boredom-busting activities do your kids love to do when the weather outside is frightful? I’m always looking for more fun ideas, so please feel free to share in the comment section below!
