If you can't beat them... join them ;-)

Gargling and bubbling with your drink is fun... but at lunch and snack its not so appropriate... (mostly because it get's carried away - one starts, they all start, they stop eating and half an hour later there are hungry children who have forgotten about the fun reason why they did not eat their food!!! Roll eyes!)

So when I see the need to bubble and gargle I simply acknowledge the need and say - let's use straws and blow bubbles this afternoon... there is the usual happy cheer, theyd rink and eat their food like children again (instead of experimenting)

Today I used plastic cups with a squirt of washing liquid and some water - each child had their own and could blow to their heart's content... there was great excitement as nine children sat round the table all blowing (and humming as they blew) into their cups and making the bubbles flow over...
little bubbles BIG bubbles... or just mixing to make foam!
SO MUCH LAUGHTER and squeals of joy... Bubbles could  be blown across the table, or popped with a finger... so much to explore. AND its such a great way to train those mouth muscles to help with pronunciation...

AND cleaning up afterwards was fun... I thought since there was so much soapy water on the table... why not experiment... so I poured som paint directly onto the table for them to mix...