Play bubble games, make bubble art, learn about the science of bubbles, and have even more bubblicious fun.
What You Need
- White corn syrup (such as Karo)
- Dishwashing liquid
- Food coloring
- Quart milk carton and other bubble tools (see below for ideas)
- Distilled water
What You Do
- Make Bubble Brew
Bubble mix improves after sitting so make it the day before you go out to play. Make enough for many activities. Gently stir together:- 1 part dishwashing liquid (Dawn® works best.)
- 10 parts distilled water
- ¼ part white corn syrup (such as Karo®)
- Try Different Bubble Tools
A wire coat-hanger, straws, and plastic rings that hold a six-pack of soda all make good bubble blowing tools. Even your hands, thumb and forefingers joined together, dipped in the mixture can make huge bubbles.
- Can you make square bubbles?
Cut off the ends of a quart milk carton to make a square wand, or make a square wand from a hanger. Ask your child what shape its bubble will be. Dip one end into the mix and gently blow through the other. Watch her surprise as a round bubble emerges from this square device. Explain that bubbles are always round. They naturally pull into the shape with the smallest surface area—a sphere.
- Make Bubble Art
Pour bubble mix into several cups, adding a few drops of different food coloring to each. Blow a rainbow of bubbles into the air and have your child “catch” them on a white piece of paper and watch them pop.
- Play Bubble Games
- Hop and Pop: Blow as many bubbles as you can in the air and have your child jump around to break as many as possible before they hit the ground.
- Blow, Baby, Blow: Tell your child to take a deep breath and gently blow through a straw, starting on the surface of a dish of bubble mix and pulling the straw up as he or she blows. Explain that the longer he blows, the bigger the bubble.
- Bubble Tag: Confine the game to a specific area. The person who is “it” blows bubbles toward the other player, who dodges them until he or she is hit. Then change places.
