We recently decided that it was time to whip up a big batch of our homemade bubble recipe. In the past, we’ve always just purchased regular-sized containers of bubbles, but I find that my kids tend to spill them almost immediately; and then like a popped bubble, fun time is quickly over. Instead, we set up a DIY bubble station that allowed the kids to carry around only small amounts of the homemade bubble solution at a time, as well as to try out some different objects for blowing bubbles.
What You Need to Set Up a DIY Bubble Station
- Pour-able container of bubble solution (recipe below)
- Small paper cups
- Cookie cutters
- Straws
- Bubble wands
- Cake pan
- Other items for making bubbles (strings, hangers, wires, etc.)
Bubble station supplies.
Mix your bubble ingredients if you are using a home made bubble recipe, or pour your store-bought bubble solution into your container.
-------------------- Advertisement --------------------
-------------------------------------------------------
Fill your paper cup no more than 1″ full of bubble solution so there is less to spill. You might also fill the bottom of a cake pan to use for bigger bubble wands made of wire or string.
Try blowing bubbles with all of your different items. Some will work better than others. Our best bets for household items were straws and small cookie cutters.
Homemade Bubble Recipe
- 3 quarts of water
- 2 cups of dish soap
- 1 cup corn syrup
- Large pitcher or other container
Bubble Recipe Craft Supplies
Measure out your bubble ingredients, putting them into the large container as you go.
Note: We used grapefruit scented dish soap, so our bubble solution was a pretty pink color!
-------------------- Advertisement --------------------
-------------------------------------------------------
Mix all ingredients together, stir with a spoon, and start blowing bubbles!
The best bubbles, by far, came from using ordinary drinking straws. These were so cool, and our bubble straws are now a go-to activity in the front yard!
Make a Ton of Bubbles with a Drinking Straw “Launcher”
Here’s what you need
- A handful of drinking straws (you can get them at the grocery store or dollar store)
- Rubber band
- Pan or cup
Bubble Straw Craft Supplies
Gather your straws into a tight circle.
Wrap your straws with a rubber band. (A band at the top and at the bottom might work better for holding them tight.)
Dip one end of your straws into the bubble solution.
Put the other end in your mouth and blow. (Don’t suck!)
If you don’t have drinking straws in the house, you can make bubble wands with pipe cleaners. I read online that they are quite recommended for making bubble wands. I was a bit skeptical, but also desperate with two little girls waiting impatiently to blow bubbles. I decided to give it a try. Here’s how we did it:
Make a loop in one end of your pipe cleaner and twist the end around the stem. This is where you blow the bubble.
Fold the “stem” or long part of the pipe cleaner in half, and twist it from the top to the bottom. I left a small loop at the bottom for a handle.
We made pipe cleaner bubble wands in a variety of shapes.
Pipe cleaner bubble wands are better than a poke in the eye with a sharp stick. If I didn’t have any plastic ones around, they’d be worth making. That said, they didn’t work as well as I hoped, although they did seem to improve as they got more saturated after several uses.
What I Learned the Hard Way: This is pretty important! I learned two things.
1) If you put the bubble solution where the toddler can reach it, she will make a mess.
2) Don’t put the bubble station on your porch or other potentially slick/hard to rinse surface. As soon as any bubble solution spills, you have a mess and a potential visit to the ER! It would have been far better to put our table on the grass.
