Little Miss Red (my fiery little 2 1/2year old) was bouncing off the walls on one rainy, cold and generally miserable Melbourne days last week pleading with me to do some painting. After cleaning the house all day, the thought of a child who had more paint on her than the paper was not appealing to me.
I needed an activity that was easy to clean, fun for Little Miss, and involved paint in some way.

So I was racking my brain on how I could entertain her desire to paint, and my desire that the house could stay clean for more than 5 minutes.

I remembered doing this activity with my mum called bubble prints. I know it’s nothing new, but I was so surprised at how easy it was to, and it was nice to do something with little miss that I remember enjoying as a child.

For this activity you will need:

–        3 or 4 tall cups half filled with water (depending on how many colours you want)

–        Different coloured food dye

–        Some paper (we found the thicker paper worked best)

–        3 or 4 drops of dishwashing detergent in each cup of water, mixed in well.

–        A couple of straws.

That’s it, thankfully all stuff we had in the cupboard.

The idea is that you put a tiny bit of food dye in each cup of the soapy water, blow some bubbles out the top of the cup with the straw, and then place the paper on top gently to make a print of the coloured bubbles on the paper.
It was so easy and little miss was enthralled with making the bubble prints on the paper.
Once she understood that the water didn’t taste nice (even though pink bubble water must have looked amazing to her) she was happy to let me blow the bubbles and she made the prints.

We stuck the cups to the table with blu-tack so they were less likely to be knocked on to my shiny clean floor. And when we were finished, all that was left to clean was three soapy cups.

I now know why Mum had us doing bubble prints every second week as kids, quick, easy, fun and interactive. Little miss showed off her art work with great pride when Daddy came home, and we even used some of the prints for home made wrapping paper. 

Gemma Mulcahy

After 2 babies, 14 months apart, I was straight back to work to try and juggle family and home life as best I could. I was quickly in over my head and found that Life was messier than I had imagined. My world of deadlines and manicured suits was getting harder to maintain. So after hubby started his own business, we made the mutual decision that I would stay home to look after the children till they were back in school. Now I am at home, setting my own deadlines and trying to entertain my bouncy toddlers as best I can. This is all new for me, and I know that there are other mums out there who are feeling their way through this toddler time as well. I wouldn’t swap this time for anything, but I am also finding out that it is sometimes hard to stay motivated during this period of life.

That’s why I am writing down the activities the kids and I enjoy and when I look back over them, I am encouraged that my children’s creativity is being nurtured as best I know how. And I remember that the time I am spending with them, is so important and valuable as they grow into the little people I love and adore.