Ok the secret is out, I absolutely HATE bubble machines! I'd hazard a guess that there's not one Speech and Language Therapist who would use one - they're fresh out of those movies where the robots take over all the human jobs! Why the extreme aversion? Let me tell you!

Kids love bubbles. They're magical. So I can see why parents think "I'll buy something that quickly creates hundreds of these." But what they don't realise is how many things your child can learn from an interaction with an adult who's blowing bubbles.

I use them for:
🔵 COMMUNICATION TEMPTATIONS - bubbles are so exciting that they are really great to tempt your child to communicate with you. Blow some then pause and wait for your little one to tell you that they want more. For little babies, this might just be looking at you or making a noise. Older babies could say or sign "more".
🔵 TURN TAKING - You can both take a turn blowing or popping. No big deal if they eat the wand a bit of can't blow yet, they won't learn unless they get to try.
🔵 TEACHING VOCAB - "my turn, your turn, blow, bubbles, pop, big one, little one, wand, high, low, falling, bounce, wet, reach."
🔵 FOR FACE TO FACE FUN - why wouldn't we want to play a role in something that kids adore so much?! I want to blow bubbles with August because he gets so giggly and excited and we have our own fun routines. I'd be so upset if a machine took my job!!
🔵 TO KEEP HIM INTERESTED - you can have too much of a good thing. If you child gets used to the constant bubbles a machine blows then bubbles will get boring and they won't excite your child. This means you can't use bubbles to calm or distract your child in times of need.

There's a couple of posts on my grid and highlights (check communication temptations) showing you how I use bubbles to support communication. Have a watch and take back your job as chief bubble blower!

Does your little one love bubbles?