Looking for bubble wrap activities to do with kids? If you’ve received bubble wrap and are looking for fun ways to use bubble wrap in creative art or sensory play, then you are in luck! This bubble wrap activity is great for the child with tactile defensiveness that still wants to participate in messy play.
Bubble Wrap Activity
We’ve done the mess-free painting and no-mess sensory play a few times and it’s always a hit. We added a new component to this one to add a touch pressure component. Bubble Wrap!
This bubble wrap activity is easy to set up. You need just a couple of materials:
- Plastic sandwich baggie
- Bubble wrap
- Paint
To set up the bubble wrap sensory activity, follow these steps:
- Cut a small square of bubble wrap.
- Slide the bubble wrap into a sandwich baggie so it lays flat.
- Add a squirt of some paint onto the bubble wrap.
- Seal up the baggie.
- Start playing!
Instant sensory, mess-free paint play. You could pop the beads and see the paint splatter, smear the paint around the bubbles, and spread the color using finger isolation.
This would be fun to add two colors and mix. This took a little more strength to pop the beads than usual, being in the baggie. Great fine motor exercise, here!
Benefits of Bubble Wrap Painting
There are several things happening here when kids are playing with this bubble wrap activity.
Fine Motor Benefits- By pressing the paint around on the bubble wrap, we see several fine motor skills at work:
- Finger isolation
- Force modulation
- Eye-hand coordination
- Hand strength
- Arch development
- Separation of the sides of the hand
Sensory Benefits of this Bubble wrap activity- There are also sensory components at play here as well. This activity offers proprioceptive input which breaks down into:
- Force modulation
- Wakes up the hands
- Heavy work through the hands
Motor Coordination Benefits of this bubble wrap activity- This activity also supports motor skills (including fine motor skills listed above.):
- Eye-hand coordination
- Motor planning
- Crossing midline
- Wrist extension and stability
- Shoulder stability
This was a fun rainy day painting project. What have you been painting lately?
Looking for more sensory activities that support underlying needs? Use the activities and tips inside the Sensory Lifestyle Handbook!
The Sensory Lifestyle Handbook walks you through sensory processing information, each step of creating a meaningful and motivating sensory diet, that is guided by the individual’s personal interests and preferences.
The Sensory Lifestyle Handbook is not just about creating a sensory diet to meet sensory processing needs. This handbook is your key to creating an active and thriving lifestyle based on a deep understanding of sensory processing.