Homemade Bubble Solution & Homemade Bubble Makers

We had giant homemade bubbles on our fun list. But since the air is so dry up here in the mountains, we waited for a rainy day when humidity would be higher. Bubbles are also visibly more colorful in overcast weather.

We used this recipe:
6 cups warm water
2 cups regular (unconcentrated) dawn dish soap
3/4 cup light corn syrup

We mixed the solution gently in a plastic box and covered.

(Glycerin can be added in a smaller amount in place of corn syrup but we used corn syrup because it is a lower cost item and we also read we would need to let the bubble solution set overnight with the glycerin. If you use Dawn concentrated dish soap, only add one cup.)

To prepare for our bubble day we gathered some items from around the office.
We found two dowels and two eye hooks (believe it or not we even had those in the craft cabinet) and drilled small holes at the end of the dowels and screwed in the small eyelets.

Then we took cotton string - 4 ply worsted cotton.
(Cotton is absorbant and works best to hold bubble solution in the strings, versus using synthetic fibers.)

One strand will need to be twice as long as the other. Larger strands make larger bubbles, but thinking we might need a very large bubble bin if we went too long, we cut one 2 feet long and the other 4 feet long. Our dowels measure 15-1.2 inches.

We tied a small strand of string on the bottom strand to weigh the bottom string down.

Tie each end of the long and short string to each eyelet.

Make sure the two strands aren't twisted together. Dip the strands in the bubble solution and pull back.

 Look at the beautiful sky reflected in the bubble.

We also made a smaller stringed bubble maker from cotton string and straws.
We cut a long strip of cotton twine, a little larger than the length of 4 straws.

We fed the string through 2 straws and then tied a knot in the string, forming a complete loop.
We tucked the knot into one of the straws.

With this design, the straws will be the handles and the strings will catch the bubble solution.

Kids may pull the straws back and form a bubble or blow and create a stream of bubbles.

We also made some bubble blowers out of pipe cleaners by twisting a loop on the top and shaping into circles, squares and hearts. Pipe cleaners are flexible so children can reform the shape of the loop at the top on a whim.

Blowing bubbles is a great oral-motor activity which helps with speech development.

Keep your bubble solution covered and clean for the best bubbles. Enjoy!