Finding moments of childhood in Gaza, one bubble at a time

The Global Sumud Flotilla, which was attacked by Israeli forces on 18 May as it attempted to relieve the blockade of Gaza, was carrying an array of humanitarian aid.

Onboard could be found food, water, baby formula and medical supplies. There was something else: kits designed to make bubbles, small enough to take anywhere.

These kits, made from soap, water, rope and sticks, are the brainchild of Bubbles Not Bombs (BNB), a grassroots project that aims to bring children in war zones and displaced children some respite through mindful play with bubbles.

Having been run for 15 years through Dr Zigs, a Welsh eco-friendly toy company that promotes play as a tool for supporting children’s emotional wellbeing in crisis settings, BNB has just become its own non-profit organisation. 

Paola Dyboski, a 56-year-old who grew up in Italy, is the woman behind Dr Zigs and BNB. “Every child around the world plays with bubbles,” she tells Middle East Eye. “We’re simply trying to give kids in conflict moments of play.”

Dyboski understands the urgent need to get basic necessities into Gaza, where at least 22,000 Palestinian children have been killed since Israel’s genocide began following the Hamas-led attack of 7 October 2023.

But she stresses the vital importance of play, saying it is a universal right that must be available to all children.

As such, BNB is currently working to physically deliver kits into Gaza and Lebanon. Until then, it is sending simple digital recipes so people can make bubbles using whatever materials are available locally.

Dyboski says that bubbles, with their “joy and lightness,” offer children living with chronic trauma a way to navigate fear and loss, express difficult realities, calm their breathing, and regulate their emotions.

Moments of joy

Mohamed Abushbeka has been caring for his two little nieces in Gaza since they lost their father in the early days of Israel’s onslaught. A week ago, BNB reposted a video he had shared of his elder niece, Batool, blowing bubbles in a displacement camp. 

“Bubbles offer children rare spells of joy, safety, and escape from anxiety and the painful reality surrounding them,” Abushbeka tells MEE, underlining their power to help release emotions that children often cannot express in words.

The young man, who designs and sells t-shirts online to support his family, believes that playing with bubbles provides children with a brief sense of freedom. “You see them running, laughing, and chasing bubbles as they float into the air, then suddenly falling and bursting,” Abushbeka says. 

Bubble toys are also simple, affordable, and easy to make, he says, with children often using whatever they can find, from plastic cups to small tubes, to blow bubbles. 

Abushbeka insists that preserving little moments of play in Gaza is essential for parents and caregivers trying to salvage some semblance of innocent play for their children. 

“One day, Palestinian children will laugh without fear, sleep without bombs, and grow up surrounded by peace instead of loss,” he wrote on his Instagram account. 

Protest bubbles

Drawing on four medical missions to Gaza, Leigh Evans, a Welsh activist, emergency nurse and paramedic, spoke to MEE about the “constant trauma” children in the coastal enclave live with and the “heartbreak” of seeing them deprived of the chance to play. 

'Children’s need to play and develop as human beings should be a major part of what’s considered aid'

- Leigh Evans, former Gaza aid worker and flotilla member

“I think children’s need to play and develop as human beings should be a major part of what’s considered aid,” Evans says. 

Drawing on memories of families inviting him to dinner in bombed-out homes, he reflects on how Gazans strive to maintain some semblance of home and family: “They try to comfort children through things like cooking and play in a place where anybody may die.”

Evans, who participated in the Thousand Madleens flotilla and the Global March to Gaza last year, often uses BNB’s bubble kits during solidarity missions and protest actions. 

In June 2025, a viral video showed him dropping to his knees and pleading with Egyptian forces to allow entry during the march to Gaza. 

Last week, he blew bubbles at a peaceful Red Line event in West Wales. Earlier in March, he joined other activists in a direct action outside Israeli weapons firm Elbit Systems, blowing bubbles to disrupt the production of munitions used in Gaza. 

Describing bubbles as “wonderfully therapeutic,” the nurse says they offer a small but powerful form of psychological relief for children in conflict zones, allowing them to be children in environments where they otherwise cannot.

“Bubbles are magical, like small globes that reflect everything around children,” Sabine Choucair, a Lebanese clown and co-founder of Clown Me In, which works in crisis areas, tells MEE. “They bring kids together and give them a way to try things.”

Choucair supported BNB by posting last month a video of a game she designed, “Pop the Fear”, where she invites children to place their fears into bubbles, pop them away, and make space for joy and hope by blowing fresh bubbles. 

'How are we supposed to survive if our mental state is destroyed?'

- Sabine Choucair, Lebanese clown

With 20 years of experience performing for children in refugee camps and disaster zones worldwide, Choucair regularly conducts her shows in bomb shelter areas across Lebanon. 

“Imagine re-living the loss of your home, hearing drones and bombs again, and being out of school once more,” she says, in relation to Israel’s military onslaught in Lebanon that has killed more than 3,500 people and displaced almost one million since March. 

Although not a top priority in contexts where life essentials are severely lacking, psychologists point out that mental health support is not secondary and should be part of emergency response, especially for children facing repeated bombardment, displacement and loss.

“How are we supposed to survive if our mental state is destroyed?” Choucair asks.

A moving video from The Sameer Project in Gaza shows a young girl focusing her fear of shelling and famine into popping bubbles, before wishing to be reunited with her dead mother.

“It’s a simple but effective way to help children process trauma,” says veteran activist and business owner Dyboski. “Creating moments of play is healing. They can feel a sense of control and make the experience their own.” 

Myanmar, Sudan and beyond

BNB has begun distributing bubble toys to children in Myanmar and Cox’s Bazaar in Bangladesh, the world’s largest refugee camp.

It is working hard to reach Sudan in collaboration with local organisation Let’s Have Hope, though shipments have so far been halted. The initiative also plans to send bubble toys to Congo and Ethiopia's Tigray region. 

“We need to make sure children not only survive but are also able to grow into human beings who can live, love and function,” says Evans. 

“There are an estimated 473 million children worldwide living in conflict areas,” Dyboski says, quoting a Unicef estimate. “We’ve got a lot of children to reach.”