Fragile bubbles have the power to captivate both adults and infants. Is it any wonder they can quiet a classroom or hold sway over a festival crowd?
They put the kick in champagne and the fun in a toddler's playtime. The appeal of bubbles covers every generation."We do bubbles with every age, actually from 2 months to 12 years. They love them," said Corienne Carlin, administrator of Heather Ridge Child Care Center in Redding, Calif.
But bubbles aren't just for the sandbox set. At a recent Market-Fest evening in downtown Redding, a bubble activity brought out the kid in adults as well.
For children, bubbles can be their first plaything - bringing awareness of a new and intriguing outside world.
"At 2 or 3 months, they will just watch them," Carlin said of the infants at Heather Ridge. "Some (infants) are at the reaching stage and will reach out at them. They will try to pop them."
As the children grow, their interest in bubbles grows, too - from mere observer to bubblemaster.
"Usually they want to hold the wand themselves at 18 months, but they can't really do it. At 3 years old, then they're able to swing the wand around," Carlin said.
Heather Ridge uses the traditional soap bubbles commonly found in the stores and also makes the glycerin bubbles, which can make huge floating orbs.
"They would fit over some of our smaller kids," Carlin laughed.
Even school-aged children play - and learn - from bubbles, said Deb Baker, a teacher at the Central Valley Children's Center in Shasta Lake, Calif.
"There are all sorts of good scientific concepts you get from bubbles," Baker said.
In addition, children learn to follow directions with bubble recipes. With their senses they see bubbles float, find they are slippery and taste bad.
"All these are concepts you're not telling the child, but they're assimilating," Baker said.
For all their simple pleasures, bubbles offer a complex science lesson, confirmed Cliff Gottlieb, a chemistry instructor at Shasta College in Redding.
Bubbles are formed when the molecules of a liquid are able to stretch. All liquids have some ability, but those with a greater surface tension - like soap - have more. That makes for better bubbles, Gottlieb said.
These scientific wonders are instant attention-getters.
"If you want to quiet a classroom down - say your children are going everywhere and you need a little control, you bring in bubbles," Carlin said.
But what's the fundamental appeal? There are several ideas.
Chemistry instructor Gottlieb said bubbles have an undeniable cool factor.
"They're fun. They look cool. I have bubble stuff right here," he said.
Carlin suggests: "I think because they float, and it's something they can't control."
Or maybe they're just fun.
"As long as I've been alive, I've been playing with bubbles," Baker said.