By Katie Vance, Founder & Inventor of Bubble FLO® and Learning Support Teacher
Today is World Children's Day, and I want to talk about something I see every day in my work - both as a teacher and as the founder of Bubble FLO: the transformative power of genuine engagement.
I became a teacher in 2009 and currently spend two days a week as a support for learning teacher in a specialist primary school department, working with an amazing group of children.
What I've learned in that classroom has informed the development of Bubble FLO®. Whether a child is managing complex educational needs or chronic respiratory conditions, one truth remains constant: engagement changes everything.
When we talk about engagement in education or healthcare, we're not just talking about compliance. We're talking about a child's active participation, their interest, their willingness to be part of their own learning or care.
In my classroom, I see what happens when children are truly engaged versus when they're simply going through the motions. The difference is profound.
An engaged child isn't just completing a task because they have to - they're invested, curious, and participating because something about the experience speaks to them, even if they can't express that verbally.
Traditional approaches in both education and healthcare often weren't designed with engagement in mind. They were designed for efficiency and standardisation.
In education, we've moved towards differentiated learning, sensory approaches, and child-led activities. We understand that what works for one child might be completely inaccessible for another.
In paediatric healthcare, we must often still utilise equipment designed as one-size fits all which doesn’t ignite engagement from younger users.
When I developed Bubble FLO, I brought my teaching experience directly into the design process.
I thought about the children in my classroom who light up when they see bubbles. I thought about how visual feedback captures attention in ways that abstract concepts can't. I thought about how the same activity can feel completely different depending on how it's presented.
A breathing exercise is a breathing exercise. But creating colourful bubble volcanoes? Well now you’ve got them!
This isn't about making healthcare "fun" for the sake of it. It's about recognising that all children deserve care that acknowledges who they are and how they experience the world.
As we mark World Children's Day, I'm thinking about all the children I've worked with over the years. Each one has reinforced what I already knew: children are capable of remarkable things when we give them the right tools and support.
Let's keep putting children at the centre of what we do. Let's keep asking how we can make essential activities more accessible, more engaging, more human.
Because when we truly meet children where they are, we don't just see better outcomes. We see children thriving.