Backyard Bouncing Bubbles – Head Outside for Sick Science! Summer Camp

By Blog Editor Susan Wells

I’ve never met a kid or adult who could resist blowing bubbles. There is something about a bubble – the rainbow of colors, the fragility, the perfect circle.

There is always a contest for who can blow the biggest bubble, the most bubbles or pop the most at one time. But have your kids ever bounced a bubble? Made a square bubble? All you need is a little bubble knowledge to make some of the most amazing bubbles ever.

For this Sick Science! Summer camp, we met up with a few friends and pulled out the bubble solution. To create longer lasting, bouncing bubbles, you need the best bubble solution. We used Extreme Bubble Solution from Steve Spangler Science, but you can also make up your own mixture with glycerin and dish soap. We have found Dawn works the best. Don’t use the antibacterial version. Bubble solution gets better with time, so mix it up the day before and let it sit out in the open air.

Bubble Recipe:

• 1 cup of distilled water (240 mL)
• 2 tablespoons of Dawn® dish soap (30 mL)
• 1 tablespoon of glycerin (15 mL)

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The kids could hardly wait to get their fingers in the bubble solution. We used pipettes with the tips cut off for blowers. These work better than anything I have seen. No matter how hard or soft you blow, you get bubbles. And the bubbles stay on the end of the pipette unless you shake them off.

They were blowing several bubbles at once, bouncing them back and forth and trying different mediums on which to blow the bubbles.

Then we took out the big bucket of bubble solution. Mix distilled water with Extreme Bubble Solution, let sit overnight, and you will have the best, longest lasting bubbles ever.

To make square bubbles, you will need a cube. We used the Steve Spangler Science Square Bubble Maker. It goes together quickly and works well, even with little, slippery fingers.

• Find a container to hold about 7.5 liters (2 gallons) of water.
• Add approximately 1/4 cup of liquid dish soap or Extreme Bubble Solution. You may need to tweak the amount of dish soap and water slightly. If you are using dish soap, avoid the antibacterial products.
• Mix the bubble solution gently with your hand.  If the water is hard in your area, add extra dish soap or use distilled water.
• Keep the surface free of foam.
• Dip the square bubble contraption into the bubble solution. Always hold the model by a node. Dipping at an angle works best. Be sure that the model is immersed completely, so that all sides are covered. Gently lift the model out of the bubble solution. You should have an exciting geometric bubble!
• Grab your pipette and blow a bubble over the cube model and drop it in the middle. You will see that the edges start to collapse and make a new shape inside the square bubble structure.
• Gently put the larger end of the pipette up to the middle of your square bubble.
• Very gently blow into the pipette… what starts to happen? You get a bubble inside of a bubble! So cool!

For the science behind bubbles and more about creating the best bubble, please visit the Backyard Bubble Sick Science! Experiment.