When it’s a beautiful day out, it is best to take advantage of the weather, get lots of fresh air, and have fun. Playing with bubbles is a great way to enjoy the outdoors while still staying active.
What you will need:
- 1 wire hanger (or wire lying around the house if you don’t have wire hangers)
- 1 cup of liquid dish soap (example: Dawn)
- 6 cups of distilled water
- 1 tablespoon of glycerine (if you don’t have glycerine, you can use ¼ cup of light corn syrup)
- One container large enough to hold the bubble mixture and large enough to fit your hanger in—does not need to be very deep (a shallow baking tray or dish works well)
What you will do:
- Pour the 6 cups of water into the container.
- Slowly add the dish soap.
- Stir the two ingredients together, but very gently; you don’t want to create any bubbles just yet.
- Add your tablespoon of glycerine.
- Stir the mixture some more and again make sure you are not forming any bubbles (this means stirring slowly)
- Let your bubble mix sit overnight (optional)
Making the wand
To make the wand, form your wire hanger in the shape of wand that you would like (make sure that it isn’t too big because you want to be able to dip your homemade wand into the mixture you just made. The next day you can take your bubbles outside and enjoy the beautiful weather with your new experiment.
Science connection:
Why are individual bubbles round?
- Bubbles are “minimal surface structures” meaning that they hold together the gas inside with the least amount of surface area possible.
Which geometric form then allows for the least amount of surface area for any volume?
- A sphere! Which is why all bubbles once blown and closed off are in the form of a sphere!
