If you’re looking for fun and inexpensive outdoor play that virtually every preschooler will love, bubbles are your friend. You can buy bubbles and a wand for cents, rather than dollars, or even make your own. Here are more ways to have fun with bubbles.
Homemade Bubbles
BabySavers.com offers not one, not two—but SEVEN easy recipes for making homemade bubbles. At its simplest, bubbles consist of 1 cup of water for every tablespoon of dishwashing liquid. Mix together gently, and voila! For added stickiness, see the deluxe recipe that also includes sugar; for added color, see the food coloring-enhanced recipe (strictly enforce the outdoor-only aspect). You can also use the types of jugs intended to dispense juice as a bubble refill station, complete with extra solution.
Big Bubble Cone
Let’s say you’ve made your own bubbles and now need a wand—or maybe you just want a really big wand. Grandparents.com shares how to make a paper cone out of a standard-sized sheet of paper that is great for blowing bubbles. You just need paper, scissors and tape. Pour your bubble mixture into a shallow dish and enjoy.
Looking for other household items that can be used as bubble wands? Take a look in your kitchen drawers. Just about any kitchen utensil with a hole in it (slotted spoons, cookie cutters, sieves and the like) are worth a try. Just remember which ones worked well (or didn’t) for next time. And there are no worries about getting the utensils dirty; bubbles are mostly soap and water.
The article also shares a gloriously messy art project using bubbles. Do this outdoors or in an indoor space protected by newspaper or tarp. Gather bowls and put a cup of bubble solution in each. Add a teaspoon of colorful tempera paint in each. When your child blows a bubble with this mixture, you can “catch” it using a piece of paper. As it bursts on the paper, unique spatter art is created.
Kids IN a Bubble
You’ll need to think really big for this one. After mixing together a large amount of bubble solution, pour it into your preschooler’s wading pool. This site recommends adding additional glycerin for added solution strength. Your wand? A hula-hoop! Put the hula-hoop in the pool along with a step stool in the center of the hoop. Carefully guide your child onto the stool before soaking your hands in the solution. Then pull the hoop over your child’s head. He or she will briefly be inside the bubble. You can put sunglasses or goggles on your child to protect his or eyes from any soap.
Or, if that’s more complicated than what you had in mind, hold up the hula-hoop vertically and challenge your child to blow bubbles through the hoop. How many did he or she get through? Let your preschooler count successes.
Bubbles, Bubbles and More Bubbles
Here are fun songs that your child can sing about bubbles while playing with them. For added enjoyment, YOU blow bubbles while your child sees how many he or she can pop in the time it takes to sing a song.
Looking for more ways to enrich your child’s life? Horizon Education Center provides affordable quality care including educational and enrichment opportunities for children in the following Northeast Ohio locations.
