The mere sight of a bubble floating by overhead can make even the most harried person stop and smile. Part science, part wonder, a bubble is simply a thin skin of liquid surrounding a gas. But you needn’t know any bubble science to enjoy this fun and inexpensive activity. Best of all, bubbles can be made using ingredients you have around the house. When the weather’s nice, I often make a bucket of bubble solution and leave it outside with wands and other fun equipment so my daughter and others can make bubbles whenever they like. It’s always fun and magical to create bubbles and run around to watch them trail behind you in the breeze.
Recipe for Great Bubbles
There’s no need to spend money on commercial bubble mixes. The best mixes come from ingredients that are inexpensive and easily available. A large batch can be left in a bucket or tub for days without losing its ability to form bubbles. Bubble mixes are best made at least ½ hour before you need them, so they can settle.
6 cups (or parts) water
2 cups (or parts) Dawn dishwashing detergent
3/4 cup Karo or other light corn syrup
Large tub, bucket or pan (large enough for the wands to fit inside)
Use Dawn brand dishwashing detergent, if you can find it, for large, firm bubbles. Joy is second-best.
If you’re using the same container to measure both the water and the detergent, measure the water first to prevent detergent foaming in the container.
If your water is very hard, you may want to use distilled water.
Stir the solution gently. It should be smooth, not sudsy or foamy.
How to Blow Big, Strong, Long-Lasting Bubbles
Choose good wands or materials.
Ensure that the bubble and bubble tool only touch wet surfaces.
If the day is too windy for big bubbles, seek a windbreak and form bubbles near that.
Make sure the bubble mix is inside the wand or tool.
Blow or wave the wand gently, just enough for the film inside to catch some air. Blowing too hard can cause a bubble to break, or can create many small bubbles instead of one big one.
Make Your Own Wand or Bubble Maker
There are wonderful commercial wands with very large openings in whimsical shapes, available at toy stores and fairs. You can also make your own large homemade wand.
Two or more wire hangers
Bend a clothes hanger into the shape of a circle.
Unfold a second hanger as straight as you can and attach it to the first to form a handle.
Create a Bubble Window Maker
Cotton string with some absorbency
Plastic straws cut in pieces
Run a length of string through the straws in a continuous line.
Leave some string between each straw and knot the string ends together.
See what shapes you can make with the straws.
Try a “bubble window”. When making the window, lift the solution out of the bucket or pan in one plane and at an angle, which will help the film remain within the shape. Put two wet hands through a bubble window and shake hands!
Slow Tip: Search around your house for other good bubble makers. Six-pack rings, plastic strawberry containers, funnels, cookie cutters, mason-jar rings, rubber bands, pipe cleaners, strainers, even fly swatters can all make fine bubbles. Often items with many small openings will produce masses of fun bubbles. Your hands are another wonderful bubblemaker — especially if they are wet.
More Bubble Fun
Bubble Clusters: Put a small amount of bubble solution on a pie tin or cookie sheet. Blow into it with straws to create multiple bubbles in clusters.
Bubble Within a Bubble: Blow a bubble with a straw. Remove the straw from the bubble. Making sure the straw is wet, gently insert it into the top of the bubble, so it enters at a 45 degree angle. Blow gently to form another bubble.
This activity is adapted from Fed Up with Frenzy: Slow Parenting in a Fast-Moving World, which contains this and 300+ more fun family activities.
Photos by Susan Sachs Lipman