Back To School Bubble Blowing Math Activities

1-2-3 Come Play Some Interesting and Fun Math Games With Me!

Are you looking for some quick and easy ideas to do for the 1st day of school? Then I think you'll enjoy these simple bubble activities.

Start things off, by leaving the "I'm bubbling with excitement that you are in my class." bookmarks, as a cute surprise left on your students' desks. I found this sweet saying on Pinterest as valentine cards with heart bubbles. Click on the link to check out this creative teacher's original post.

Adding a small bottle of bubbles is an inexpensive way to help make children feel especially welcome. (The Dollar Store sells 3 to 6 in a pack. You can also buy a box of 20 mini wedding bubbles at most craft stores.)

Let students know that they will be allowed to blow bubbles at recess or at the end of the day. Have them count how many bubbles they blew in 1 breath and then graph the results. (Template included.) What a simple icebreaker sure to get your kiddos excited about being in school.

To incorporate more math, print off the bubble picture cards, laminate and trim.

I've included cards from 1 to 20.

To help strengthen upper body muscles, students lie on they tummies and sequence the cards in the proper order. Using opalescent flat-backed glass "marbles" as manipulatives, (they look like "real" bubbles) they make a group/set above the number card to show "how many".

So things don't get cluttered, use the larger glass "bubbles" for numbers less than 10 and the smaller ones for numbers 11-20. The "marbles" provide hands-on fun, and make counting more interesting. They are an inexpensive manipulative.

Where did I get this idea? While in Hobby Lobby, I overheard a little girl ask her mom if she could buy a bag of them.

When her mom asked her why she wanted them, "Kara" replied: "Because they are flat bubbles that won't pop!" I thought, "Wow! What can I make with 'flat bubbles'?" and the rest is history...

I've also included a set of number-word bubbles. Run the templates off on blue construction paper, laminate & trim. Older students can match the number word bubble, to the picture cards.

For more fun, run off the "bubble wand" on a variety of colors of construction paper, cut out the centers and laminate so they can double as a "magnifying glass" for students to "spy" and cover numbers or whatever.

For a "get the wiggles" out game, have students use their paper bubble wands, to find hidden bubbles around the room, or use them as an assessment tool for a whole group identification activity. i.e. you display a bubble card and students raise their wand if they know the answer, providing a quick way to whole group assess comprehension. Play "Swish." After the number is correctly identified, have students swish their wand that many times. (Swish left-right-left for a number 3 bubble card.)

Click on the link to view/download the Back To School Bubble Math Activity Packet.

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