Interesting Ways to Repurpose Bubble Wrap for Kids Crafts
Updated on August 30, 2016
Even as an adult, you probably know just how much fun bubble wrap is. If you’re anything like us, you have a hard time not popping all the bubbles yourself each time you receive a package in the mail. If you’ve ever handed the bubble wrap off to your kids to play with, however, then you know what a big hit it is for people of all ages!
It’s no surprise, then that bubble wrap also makes an awesome crafting tool. You can do more than just pop it, though! Check out these 15 unique things that you can make using bubble wrap in all types of ways.
1. Bubble wrap hop scotch
Okay, so we said we were going to outline craft ideas that involved more than just popping the bubbles on your bubble wrap, but we didn’t say that we wouldn’t include any popping activities! Sugar Bee Crafts suggests playing a classic game of hop scotch, but instead of drawing out your squares on the sidewalk with chalk, replace them with squares of bubble wrap that you’ve used a marker to write numbers on. Each time your kids hop on a number, they’ll get the added thrill of plastic bubbles popping under their feet!
2. Bubble wrap imprint painting
Painting with bubble wrap is like the opposite of stencilling. Instead of painting in the negative space to make a shape, you’re painting the raised portion of the bubble wrap and pressing it onto the paper to create an imprint. Kids will love watching their picture transfer from one thing to another! Check out how it’s done on Outnumbered 3 to 1.
3. Bubble wrap stomp art
This awesome bubble wrap painting idea from Lemon Lime Adventures is like a wacky combination of the first two suggestions on our list! Create some abstract art on a large piece of poster or packing paper by spraying on some coloured paint however you please, then letting your kids lay down some bubble wrap and jump on it to their heart’s content! The most they move about, the more unique colour combinations, shapes, and imprints their finished “canvas” will have.
4. Bubble wrap dinosaurs
In the Playroom suggests letting little kids do some bubble wrap imprint painting, just like in the previous flower idea, but then helping them cut their imprinted paper into fun shapes. Do your kids absolutely love dinosaurs? Help them draw and cut out some dinosaurs from the imprinted paper and then they’ll have patterned dinos ready to collage or draw around!
5. Backyard bubble wrap Twister
As if Twister wasn’t already a fun, interactive game the way it is, Chica Circle suggests this awesomely noisy bubble wrap version too! Cut out some circles of bubble wrap, colour them the way they are in the classic game, and stick them down to make your own popping Twister mat. Each time your kids put down a hand or foot, they’ll pop some bubbles!
6. Bubble wrap apple stamps
Do you love the idea of DIY gift wrap? You’re not alone! We’re crazy about this apple printed wrap that Crafts by Amanda created by using bubble wrap as a stamp! Cut the plastic into whatever shape you like, paint it, and press it onto your plain wrapping paper. Even if you’re the one doing the wrapping, we think your kids will love helping you create a pattern.
7. Bubble wrap sheep
Do your kids love working with unconventional materials when they craft? We don’t blame them! Some of the best projects to make are those that are textured and fun to touch. Bubble wrap is the perfect material for that kind of art. Try making these adorable sheep, painting bubble wrap white to look like lumps and curls in the sheep’s wool! Crafty Morning walks you through it.
8. Bubble wrap star fish
Did you know that there’s more than one way to do bubble wrap imprinted art? No Time for Flash Cards shows you how to create a textured paint roller from bubble wrap by rolling a length of it into a cylinder, dipping the surface of it in paint, and rolling it over a drawing! We like the spots a bubble wrap roller left on this sketch of a star fish.
9. Bubble wrap print fish mobile
Starfish aren’t the only sea creatures that look great covered in bubble wrap print! Rolling or imprinting paint onto a cut out of a fish looks like little scales, especially if you do it in a blend of colours. Try that, and then help your kids make their fish drawings 3D, just like these ones from The Imagination Tree.
10. Bubble wrap rain cloud
Fish mobiles are fun, but they’re not for everyone. If you love the idea of 3D bubble printed art but you’re not into aquatic life, consider this hanging rain cloud craft instead! Red Ted Art shows you how to make both the cloud and the little dangling rain drops.
11. Bubble wrap bug
Are you all finished with your bubble wrap paint roller and now you just have a colourful cylinder left over? You can turn that into its very own creature craft too! Help your kids cut lengths of pipe cleaner and shape them like bug’s legs and antennas. Attach the pipe cleaners and some googly eyes to your bubble wrap cylinder and you’ve got yourself a little creepy crawly, just like this one from She Knows!
12. Bubble wrap jellyfish
Not all of your kids’ bubble wrap art has to involve smothering the bubbles in paint. Cutting a semi-circle of clear bubble wrap is the perfect way to make a silly jelly fish! Have your kids paint a watery background, then stick down their jelly fish body, adding pipe cleaners for legs and even some googly eyes! Check out how it’s done on Crafty Kids at Home.
13. Bubble wrap crocodile
If you’re still looking for a way to make use of that bubble wrap roller but your kids aren’t very fond of bugs, there are plenty of other creatures they can turn it into! We’re particularly fond of this adorable crocodile from Positively Splendid. Make him some cardboard feet, some construction paper spikes, and some big foam eyes!
14. Bubble wrap corn sun catchers
Even if you paint it, bubble warp is translucent enough to look very cool when the sun shines through it. That makes it the perfect material for window hangings and sun catchers! You could make any shape of sun catcher you like, but we think these little corn on the cobs with smiley faces are pretty funny! See how they’re done on Sow, Sprout, Play.
15. Bubble wrap fish mural
I Heart Crafty Things suggests using bubble wrap paint printing to give a large piece of paper full colour very quickly. Try printing the bubbles blue like the sea and then letting your kids draw fish all over the blue, like they’re swimming! Green tissue paper makes awesome seaweed, too.
Do you know someone with hands-on kids who love touching new materials and getting a bit messy? Share this post with them for a little bit of artsy inspiration!