WonderLab event lets visitors ‘think outside the bubble’

Bubbles wafted through a crowd of children, their parents and other adults simply looking for fun as BubbleFest celebrated its 12th annual event Saturday at Frank Southern Center Ice Arena, 1965 S. Henderson St. The event is a collaboration between WonderLab, an interactive museum of health, science and technology located downtown, and the Bloomington Parks and Recreation Department.\nProgram manager Staci Radford-Vincent said the goal of the event is to promote the idea that science can be fun, especially with an object as whimsical as a bubble.\n“(We) take everyday science and let kids explore that in a fun way,” she said. “We’re trying to get kids to think scientifically, encouraging inquiry.”\nFrom 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., between 2,000 and 3,000 visitors wandered amongst the indoor and outdoor booths, popping bubble wrap and blowing bubbles with the event’s mascot “Bubble Dude.” Children blinked in surprise as bubbles containing water vapor popped in their hands, and volunteers stressed that their hands must be soaked in bubble solution to keep bubbles from popping. \nThose not familiar with the annual daylong event might be surprised to hear that it draws people from all over the region. Louise Schlesinger, who took pictures at BubbleFest for the WonderLab Web site, said the event attracts a lot of families.\n“It’s probably the biggest summer family event in Bloomington,” she said.\nWhile Schlesinger noted the draw for families, she added that bubbles seem to bring out the child in everyone. While taking pictures, she ran into a woman in her 50s who simply came to have fun. In this way, Schlesinger said, BubbleFest is experienced differently by people of different ages.\nTarget volunteer Dennis Cox said he couldn’t think of any one bubble station that had a large draw – the children seemed to be enjoying each part of the festival. Cox said he had fun interacting with the children and mentioned one toddler in particular as having a lot of energy. At one point, the little boy ran from the outdoor “preschool bubbles” area he had been playing in toward one of the two tents, excitedly shouting, “Bye!”\n“My job is to give kids a chance to see something they haven’t seen,” Cox said. “(Bubbles) are kind of magical.”\nThe event enlisted between 150 and 170 volunteers from the Bloomington Kiwanis Club, civic groups, and employee teams from stores such as Target and Kohl’s. Groups Student Support Services, one of IU’s fastest-growing organizations, had volunteers at BubbleFest as well. \nSchlesinger said the students from Groups were appreciated, as about one-third of BubbleFest volunteers came from the organization. Melinda Seader of the WonderLab board of directors agreed, saying BubbleFest is one of the first experiences Groups students who are incoming freshmen might have in Bloomington. \n“It’s wonderful to see that they’re starting out in Bloomington with volunteering,” Seader said. \nRadford-Vincent said that each year, she and the others who organize the event brainstorm ways to add to the festival. She mentioned the “Dry Bubbles” and “Bubbles All Around” booths as being new. The booths look at bubbles in bread and packing peanuts, among other dry objects. Radford-Vincent said she and others who came up with the new features wanted people to see that bubbles don’t always need to be created in a soapy solution.\n“We’ve been trying, as I’ve been telling people, to think ‘outside the bubble,’” she said.