Fun Bouncing Bubbles Recipe to Make This Summer

This bouncing bubbles recipe is a fun and easy summer activity for kids of all ages! There are only 3 ingredients needed to make these homemade bubbles that don’t pop: sugar, water and dish soap.  It is an easy bubble recipe to make and will provide many hours of fun for your family!

We are big fans of bubbles over here. We’ve painted with bubbles, made frozen bubbles and giant bubbles and our new favorite is these touchable bubbles that bounce!  Just when you think bubbles couldn’t get more magical this bubble experiment allows you to play with bubbles in a whole new way.  It is both a fun science experiment and great outdoor activity for kids this summer! 

​What Are Bouncing Bubbles? 

This homemade dish soap bubble solution creates strong bubbles that allow you to bounce and hold them on your hand.  They aren’t unbreakable bubbles, but they are sure fun to play with and see how many times you can get your bubbles to bounce on your glove.  There are different ways to make bouncing bubbles, but this simple recipe doesn’t include corn syrup or glycerin and works very well! 

The Science Behind Bouncing Bubbles

Normal soap bubbles have a thin film wall which easily pops and evaporates quickly.   The secret to creating a stronger bubble wall is adding sugar or glycerin.  The sugar or glycerin helps make the bubbles stronger so when they hit a surface they do not immediately pop and it takes longer for them to evaporate.  They will still pop if they come into contact with a surface that is dirty or oily (like our bare hands) which breaks the surface tension.  This is why we bounce them off of a glove or soft surface.  There is so much more to the science of bubbles you can read about here!   

Bouncing Bubbles Recipe

• 1/4 cup tap water
• 2 tbsp Sugar
• 1 tbsp Dawn Dish Soap

Supplies

• Bubble Wand
• Bowl
• Winter gloves (or socks or soft piece of clothing)

How to Make Bubbles that Bounce

Add your water, sugar and dish soap to a small container and gently combine your bubble mixture.  

​Cover your hand with a glove, sock or whatever soft surface you can find.  

Use your bubble wand to blow bubbles and gently bounce them up and down on your hand! It is so neat to be able to play with bubbles that don’t pop immediately and you can hold them and find fun reflections on their surface.  

Bouncing Bubbles Tricks and Tips

• If it is too windy outside the bubbles will float away too quickly and pop.  So either try to make them on a non windy day or make them inside like we did and you will just have to wipe up the floor a little bit when you’re done.  It’s really not too messy, but it does leave a sugar and soap residue behind when the bubble pops.
• The kind of gloves you use does matter. Use cotton winter gloves and not the waterproof snow gloves.  We tried those at first and the bubbles popped immediately on our gloves.  
• Be gentle and move slowly when trying to get your bubbles to bounce.  
• You can store the solution in the fridge or put it in the fridge for 10-15 minutes which will help your bubbles evaporate more slowly and create stronger bubbles.
• Using distilled water may help your bubbles last longer by limiting the amount of extra minerals in the water.