Many years ago, I mixed up a recipe for giant bubble solution that I saw on the PBS Zoom TV show. I was teaching science to homeschoolers at the time, and we had a blast making gigantic bubbles!
The secret to big bubbles is glycerin. When I was re-organizing the pantry in January, I found a bottle of glycerin that I didn’t realize I had. So yesterday, I finally mixed up some bubble solution for the boys.
To make our giant bubble solution, I mixed:
- 6 cups of water
- 1/2 cup of dishwashing liquid
- 2 Tablespoons of glycerin
For best results, let you bubble solution sit before using. 24 hours is recommended. I let mine sit for about 3 hours, and we still had good results!
The other secret to giant bubbles is to make a bubble blowing frame out of straws and string. Simply thread a piece of string or yarn through two straws, tie the ends together, and you have a frame for blowing bubbles! Aidan made several of different sizes for us to use.
It was a really windy evening, so our bubbles kept popping right away. I’m planning to do this again when the air is more calm. Even with the wind, the boys had a blast blowing bubbles. They invited out the neighbor girls to see our awesome bubbles, and all five of them played until we were almost out of solution!
I saw an idea on Steve Spangler Science to use a plastic water transfer pipette to blow bubbles. Well, since we have MANY pipettes leftover from a science lab day, I thought we’d try it! It worked really well for the big kids! (The little boys couldn’t remember which end to blow on…) To do this, trim off the squeezing end of the pipette, and then dip that end in the bubble solution. Blow on the end where the water normally comes out.
Then we had to try the bubble snake that has been all over Pinterest! To do the bubble snake, simply cut the bottom off of a plastic water bottle. Slide a sock over the end that you cut. Dip the sock in the bubble solution, and blow!
It was pretty amazing!
Where to get the supplies:
You can find glycerin at most drug stores, or you can order glycerin from Amazon (affiliate link). A 4 oz. bottle will be plenty to mix up this bubble solution at least 3 times (I didn’t figure out exactly how many tablespoons are in 4 oz. – my math skills are lacking!) I have read that you can use corn syrup in place of the glycerin, but I haven’t tried it!
I also totally recommend ordering the plastic water transfer pipettes! We have used them for mixing colored water, coffee filter art, and a science experiment with disposable diapers. And I have another activity planned for tomorrow where we will use them again!
