Due to the weather getting nicer here in NY I am running a series of posts on fun, inexpensive things for the kids to do outside.  This is the third post in the Fair Weather Fun series and I am focusing on BUBBLES today!

Fair Weather Bubble Fun

1. Make Your Own Bubble Wand

Method One:
You will need:
1. two 3 foot wooden dowels
2. craft glue (even Elmer’s will do)
3. yarn

Directions to Make the Wand:
1. Coat the first 6-8 inches of each dowel with glue. Then wrap the glued parts with yarn.
2. Cut a 3 foot piece of yarn and tie it to the two yarn covered ends.
3. Tie another piece of yarn that is 4 feet long so that it hangs down below the 3 foot piece.

Now to use the bubble wand either buy, or make a bubble solution and partially fill a wide mouthed bucket with the bubble solution. Hold a dowel in each hand and place down in the solution. Slowly pull them out and gently pull the wands apart, allowing a bubble film form between them. The slowly wave your wands around in the air to make bubbles. Trying moving it slower/faster, open it farther/keep them closer together, see what works best to make long and sort bubbles, or one bubble/many bubbles.

Method Two:
This is a video tutorial of a second method of making your own bubble wand.

2. Colored Bubbles

You will need:
1. Homemade or Store Bought Bubble Solution
2. Sodium Hydroxide
3. Phenolphthalein (indicator)
4. Thymolphthalein (indicator)
5. Club Soda (optional)

Directions to Make the Bubbles:
1. Add the sodium hydroxide and indicator to the bubble solution. You want enough indicator (Phenolphthalein or Thymolphthalein) so that the bubbles will be deeply colored. For each liter of bubble solution (4 cups) this is about 1-1/2 to 2 teaspoons of phenolphthalein (red) or thymolphthalein (blue).

2. Add sodium hydroxide until you get the indicator to change from colorless to colored (about half a teaspoon should do the trick). A little more sodium hydroxide will result in a bubble that stays colored longer. If you add too much, the color of the bubble won’t disappear when exposed to air or rubbed, though you can still react it with club soda.

3. You’ve made disappearing ink bubbles. When the bubble lands, you can make the color disappear by either rubbing the spot (reacting the liquid with air) or by adding a little club soda. If you have disappearing ink, you could mix it with bubble solution to make disappearing these same bubbles.

3. Scented Bubbles

You will need:
1. Basic Bubble Solution
2. Something for scent:

• Lime or lemon juice
• Almond Extract
• Peppermint Extract
• any of your favorite Essential oils

Directions to Make the Scented Bubbles:
Just add a few drops of any “scent” you choose to your bubble solution. (or you could cheat like we did and buy scented Ice Cream Cone bubbles at the Dollar Store!)

4. Bubble Bust

Oh the joy! What kid doesn’t love trying to pop bubbles?

1. You can use this as an early learning activity in counting by having your child count each bubble that they can pop.
2. For older children set a timer and see how many they can pop in a certain length of time. Have them take turns both blowing and popping the bubbles.

5. Bubble Challenge (size, number)

1. How big of a bubble can you blow?
2. How small can you make a bubble?
3. How many bubbles can you create in one blow?

More Fair Weather Fun