Bubbles with a Twist: Entertaining the Kids on a Budget

"Mommy, I'm bored" says the 7 year old for the umpteenth time in one day. And the day's not even half-over. Trust me. I've been there. Motherhood can be challenging, but only if you think about it too much. Now, I'm not one to spend a ton of money on anything, much less a bunch of expensive items that the kids will forget about in a week's time, if they don't get broken first. Besides, who ever said entertainment had to be bought?

In my opinion, good parenting is not about who buys the most things, but about embracing the important things - none of which can be found in a store. I'm a firm believer in teaching the kids to use creativity and imagination in their play. These skills are essential in school, as well as in life. Plus, they're just fun. When it comes to kids and entertainment, you can never go wrong with fun. That's part of what makes motherhood so great.

Practically every parent knows about the magical power of using bubbles as budget entertainment for children. It's almost written in a hidden guide on parenting. In our house, as hinted at above, we like to add on to the fun of each activity with creativity and imagination.

For extra fun with bubbles, try gathering various toys and other household objects to use instead of wands. We've used many different things. Collecting the items can be part of the fun. Actually, we just did this activity right before I wrote this. Some of the things my children gleefully collected included a plastic onion ring from the play food set, a plastic toy bracelet, cookie cutters, and some blocks with different shapes cut out in the middle.

The best thing about using bubbles as a budget entertainment activity for kids is that it can be made even cheaper by making the bubbles. That can actually be yet another way to have fun. Make the bubbles together. Before the bubble-blowing has even started, the kids have been on a scavenger hunt, as well as had lesson in liquid measurements and mixing.

Once it is time for bubble-blowing, we like to pour the bubbles into a glass cake pan for easy dipping access. This way even larger items can be dipped into the bubble-blowing solution. Bubbles have created many wonderful memories for my family and I bet for countless others, too. Happy bubble-blowing!