B is for bubbles

Homemade bubble mixure is worth hours of fun.

Blowing bubbles from a cube-shaped bubble wand.

Blowing bubbles from a cube made of pipe cleaners and straws.

Use a plastic container with a spout to store bubbles. Little hands can easily fill cups and when they are done you can pour the extra back in for next time.

Playing with bubbles is a fantastic way to pass time this summer. And it's relatively inexpensive fun.

There are endless games and activities beyond just blowing bubbles.

Have you ever tried to paint with bubbles? Or blow bubble snakes?

What about bubble tag? Or making square bubbles?

Here are just a few ideas for the months ahead.

Use a plastic container with a spout to store bubbles. Little hands can easily fill cups and when they are done you can pour the extra back in for next time.

Bubble Solution

We tested numerous bubble recipes we found online and had the best luck with this one from kidsactivitiesblog.com.

2 cups water

½ cup Dawn dish soap

1 cup sugar

1. In 1 quart jar, add hot tap water and sugar. Stir until dissolved.

2. Add dish soap. Stir to mix well.

3. Let cool. This worked better after letting it sit for a day.

4. Try storing bubble solution in a 1 gallon plastic water jug with a spigot. Kids can easily refill containers and any left over at the end of play can get dumped back in for another day.

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Blow a snake of bubbles by cutting the bottom off a standard water bottle and stretching any kind sock over the bottom. Dip in bubble mixture and blow in the drinking spout.

Bubble Snakes

This activity was by far the biggest hit of our bubble day.

You'll need an empty water bottle, sharp scissors, a sock and rubber band or duct tape.

1. Using the scissors, carefully cut off the bottom of the water bottle.

2. Stretch a sock over the bottle so the toe of the sock is pulled tight over the cut end.

3. Secure the sock in place with a rubber band or duct tape.

4. Dip the sock in bubble solution. Blow using the drinking end of the bottle.

TIP: Take in a deep breath before blowing to get the longest "snake" of bubbles possible.

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step by step photos of how to build a cube bubble wand

Square Bubbles

You'll need pipe cleaners, plastic straws and a pair of scissors for this activity.

1. Cut your straws in to 2-inch pieces. You will need 12 pieces.

Turn bubbles into a STEM project by making a square bubble.

2. Thread a pipe cleaner through one straw and bend the end of the pipe cleaner to secure it at the end.

3. Thread three more straws onto the pipe cleaner.

4. Bend the long end of the pipe cleaner back to meet the starting point and twist the two ends of the pipe cleaner around each other. You will now have a square shape.

5. Add three more straw sections onto the end of the long pipe cleaner. Add additional pipe cleaners as necessary by twisting the ends together to secure. We needed four pipe cleaners.

6. Thread the pipe cleaner through one of the adjacent straw sections.

7 . Add two more straw sections.

8. Bend the shape to form two sides of a cube and thread the end of the pipe cleaner through one of the straw sections on the edge of the cube.

9. Repeat step eight to form another side to the cube.

10. Add one final straw section to complete the cube. Thread the pipe cleaner through an adjacent straw section to secure the final shape. If desired, add a straight section of straw onto the end of the pipe cleaner to form a handle.

Now it's time to make a square bubble.

To make your square bubble have a tall container full of bubble solution. You can use homemade solution or store bought, we tried both and each worked well. Carefully dip the cube into the solution. Now lift the wand out of the solution SLOWLY. You should see a bubble cube with multiple faces. If you don't, dip the wand into the solution again until you get an inverted bubble cube.

Source: babbledabbledo.com

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LEFT: Paint pictures with bubbles colored with food coloring. The wind can be a bit troublesome but still a fun project.

Bubble Painting

All you need for this activity is some bubble solution, food coloring, bubble wands and paper.

Once dry, each picture will be a unique piece of art.

1. Pour bubble solution into containers and add a few drops of liquid food coloring. Gel coloring will work but is harder to get mixed up without forming a bunch of foam on top of the bubbles.

2. Dip bubble wands into the colored solution and blow onto paper.

3. You might want to consider putting the paper on an easel. On a windy day, we found that many of our bubbles blew away before hitting the paper that we had on the sidewalk.

Note: Our hands washed up easily from this activity but use caution with the colored bubbles solution so you don't stain your clothes.

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Homemade bubble mixture is worth hours of fun.

Bubble Tag

This is the classic backyard game of tag, but instead of tagging players with her hands, the player who is "it" must instead blow a bubble onto another player. When a player gets tagged they take the bubbles and try and tag someone else.

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Bubble Pop Freeze Dance

Have all the kids gather together and play some music to get them dancing. Have a few adults blow bubbles into the dance space, and ask kids to pop as many bubbles as they can. When the music stops, kids must stop dancing, stop popping bubbles, and freeze in place. This can be especially challenging for little ones who would rather keep popping bubbles than freeze. Anyone who doesn't freeze is out of the game. But players who are "out" don't have to be sad, because they get to help blow the bubbles for the next round. Keep playing until only one player remains.

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No Hands Allowed

Have the kids try and pop bubbles without using their hands. They can use their heads, noses, elbows, legs, toes, knees … anything but hands and fingers.

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Bubble Lift

See how long the kids can keep their bubbles in the air by having them blow underneath them to keep them from popping.

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