Welcome to another Science Invitation Saturday where we explore science for kids! Last week we made reflecting rainbows using a CD and flashlight. This week are going to experiment with bubbles!
Materials:
- bubble solution (recipe below if making your own)
- large container to hold bubble solution
- shallow dish or cookie sheet
- 2 straws
- 1 piece of string (about 30-36 inches long)
- any other items to experiment blowing bubbles with (berry basket, paper towel tube etc.)
Bubble Solution Recipe:
- 2/3 cup Joy dishwashing liquid
- 1 tablespoon glycerine
- 1 gallon water
Mix all three ingredients together. You can use the solution right away or even wait a day or so for it to really work well!
Procedure:
- Fill up a shallow container with bubble solution.
- Put a straw into the bubble solution and blow to create a bubble. What does it look like?
- Try blowing another bubble against your first bubble. Does it change the shape of the first bubble? What else do you notice?
- Continue blowing as many bubbles as you want. Look around your pile of bubbles and see what different shapes you can discover.
Lucy having fun blowing lots of bubbles!
Theo had a blast!
5. Now it’s time to blow some giant bubbles! Bring your large container of bubble solution outside.
6. Make your own bubble blower using string and 2 straws: Cut a piece of string about 3 feet long. Thread two straws onto the string and tie the ends of the string together to make a loop. Pull the straws to each side so you create a rectangle.
7. Dip your bubble blower into the bubble solution. Pull it out slowly. When you notice a thin sheet of soap film between your straws, blow slowly and create a large bubble! What do these bubbles look like?
8. When you are done playing with your bubble blower, look around your house or yard for other materials to try to blow bubbles with. Try them out and see what happens!
Tips:
– Lifting the bubble maker out of the solution slowly is important. It also helped to have the straws together in the solution. Once we lifted it out of the container, we pulled the straws apart slowly.
– Once you like the size of your large bubble, you can put the two straws together to make it come off.
– If there’s a breeze outside, you don’t even need to blow the bubble. Just holding the bubble maker in the air should be work!
Question to Spark More Curiosity & Critical Thinking:
Compare the bubbles you made with your straw and shallow dish to the large bubbles you blew outside. How are they the same? How are they different?
What’s Going On:
What is a bubble? A bubble is a thin film of soap and water stretched around air. The soap film is elastic and can stretch which is why you can see the edges of the large bubble moving around in the air and why you can see the soap film move when you blow it on your bubble maker.
Want to go even further?
Even more activities to inspire creativity and critical thinking for various ages:
- Design and build your own bubble blower.
- Try using just your hand(s) as a bubble blower.
- Experiment with making your own bubble solution. Is there a combination of products that work best? (Try things such as cornstarch or other brands of dishwashing liquid.)
- See below for some bubble related products from Amazon.
Love how youve taken simple bubble play and added in the science even for young kids. We did bubble snakes last year and they were great fun, we’ve never managed to make giant bubbles mostly as I haven’t been able to track down glycerin very easily, but I reckon we shojld try again this summer. I’d love for you to join the Outdoor Play Party at http://www.makingboysmen.com/2013/05/gardening-with-young-kids-outdoor-play.html
Thanks, Hannah. We have yet to try bubble snakes, but it’s on my list! Looks so fun! This was actually the first time I tried finding glycerin. I thought it would be hard to find, so I went to the pharmacist at my local drugstore. He walked me right over to the first aid aisle and there were bottles right on the shelf! Maybe you’ll have the same luck. 🙂
LOVE it!
Such a great post and very safe bubble solution recipe! That would make a perfect tot play
Thank you! And I love how simple it was to make!
we go through so much bubble solution over the summer, I’m totally using this recipe to make my own
So do we, Melinda! This one has been great, and we still have tons of ingredients left over!
This is a great idea! I have seen this made with large bamboo sticks to make large bubbles. I can’t wait to try this with straws!
Oh, how fun!! I love this activity. Thank you for sharing at Sharing Saturday!!
Love those homemade bubble blowers! We’ll have to make some. I’m featuring this on The Sunday Showcase this weekend.
Great BIG BUBBLES! Pinned it!
I love how you approached this from a science angle and gave so many awesome ways to extend it beyond “just” blowing bubbles (which is fun, in and of itself)! I’ll be pinning this in a moment. 🙂 Thanks for linking up with Stress-Free Sunday last weekend.
This is such a fun post! I featured you on Share It Saturday this morning! Thanks for linking up.
What child (or child at heart) doesn’t love bubbles?! I’ll be featuring you this week on Mom’s Library at http://www.crystalstinytreasures.com Thank you for linking up and don’t forget to come by and grab an I’ve Been Featured button 🙂
featuring this on moms library tomorrow, post will be up 9pm est. thanks for linking up!
looks like all mom’s librarians liked your post. I also will be featuring your post on iGameMom as part of Moms Library group. http://wp.me/p2t50R-1B9 it will be live around 12 mid-night. Thanks for sharing!
So fun!! Thank you for sharing on Sharing Saturday!!
What fun! I need to have my son try the straw blower. It looks like it makes wonderful bubbles.
Thanks so much! We had fun making this one from straws and trying to see how other materials worked as well!