Pause for Thought: Blowing Bubbles

Adapted from the Culham St Gabriel archive (video recording by Verity Thornhill)

Suitable for Whole School (Pri)

Aims

To encourage us to reflect upon the concept of trust.

Preparation and materials

• You will need to have the means available to play the video below. It is 1.37 minutes long.
• Optional: for the ‘Extension activities’ section, you may need a bottle of bubble mixture or some washing-up liquid, a container and makeshift bubble wands such as straws and biscuit cutters (Activity 1); white paper, coloured paper and a stapler (Activity 2); and white A4 paper and a pencil (Activity 3).

Assembly

Time for reflection

Discuss the following points with the children.

- There are some things that we know are there, but we can’t actually see them. Ask the children whether they can think of any examples. Suggestions might include things like love or electricity.
- Talk about how we know that these things are real. For example, we can’t see love, but we can see people caring for us and loving us. We can’t see electricity, but we can see the light come on when we flick a switch.
- Ask the children how and where they hear examples of God’s creation.

You may wish to use the following prayer.

Prayer
Dear God,
Thank you that you are always here with us.
Thank you that we see you in the beautiful creation.
We are amazed at the beauty of your world around us.
Let us show others your presence through the care and love that we give them.
Help us to trust you and remember you in all we do.
Amen.

Song/music

‘What a wonderful world’, available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vw3o6GQ2xe8 (2.25 minutes long)

Extension activities

1. If you have some bubble mixture at home, why not take a few minutes and blow some bubbles? If you’d like to try making your own bubble mixture and wand, instructions are available at: https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/howto/guide/how-make-bubble-mixture
   
2. You could try making your own simple book about the beautiful world in which we live. Some instructions for making books are available at:
   
   - ‘How to Make a Mini Origami Book’, available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LAyUTHTBDxw&vl=en (4.21 minutes long)
   - ‘Making a Homemade Children’s Book’, available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jK5PCIy0zJM (3.13 minutes long)
3. To explore the variety of our world, you could go on a texture treasure hunt.
   
   - Fold an A4 sheet to divide up the sheet into eight sections (these could be rectangles or irregular shapes - it’s up to you!).
   - Secure your paper over the object that you want to take a rubbing of, and rub your pencil gently over the surface to pick up the texture of the object underneath. Try to stay within the folded lines of the A4 sheet so that you end up with a different texture in each section.
   - If you like, you could cut out the sections and use them in a collage - but they will look good just as they are, too!