How To Make Giant Bubbles Solution & DIY Bubble Wand

On a camping trip a few years ago my parents surprised my kids with a special bubble mixture and big wands. That weekend we spent hours making gigantic bubbles. It was mesmerizing for my kids, and honestly for the adults too. These bubbles are now a staple in our outdoor bin. They come with us on vacations, make a debut at birthday parties and are played with constantly in the summer months. Instead of keeping this secret recipe to myself I wanted to include you in on this fun! I will walk you through how to make giant bubbles solution & DIY bubble wand for hours of fun this summer!

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• 2 tbsp baking powder
• 2 tablespoon glycerine powder
• ½ teaspoon of J-Lube
• 1 gallon water
• 1 cup Dawn dishwashing liquid soap

How to Make Bubble Solution

1. Combine 2 tbsp baking powder, 2 tbsp dry glycerine and 1/2 teaspoon of J-Lube, mix together in a small mixing bowl.
2. Take 1 gallon of tap water and add it to your bubble bucket. Fun fact, the minerals in tap water help sturdy soap films so it is preferred over distilled water or filtered water. 
3. Add the dry mix from step one to the tap water in the bubble bucket
4. Add 1 cup of Dawn dishwashing liquid soap and mix all ingredients together
5. Enjoy!

Tips for Making the Homemade Bubbles Solution

• We often will keep these ingredients on hand in the summer so we can easily make bubbles whenever my kids request them. We will bring this solution along with us when we visit friends or go camping. (If you are looking for other awesome camping activities this post is for you!)
• It has been handy to put the dry ingredients, pre measured, into a small baggie and then when we want to bring bubbles with us we just have to bring a small container of Dawn. This makes it so easy to take on-the-go. 
• J-lube. This stuff is magic. You can make bubbles without it, but they just don’t hold as well. When you add the J-lube you get colossal bubbles.
• You want your final solution to be like thin soup. 
• It is easiest to put this solution into a small tub. You want to be sure that your bubble wand can easily fit in and out of it without the rope touching the sides. 

How Long Will the Bubble Mixture Last?

This solution will keep for multiple days. We sometimes find that our best results are when we use day old solution. The bubble solution seems to become stickier as the days go on, making great bubbles!

If you keep the solution over a few days you. may notice a soap film on top, just brush off that film so that your cotton rope can get to the solution.

DIY Bubble Wand

Making your own bubble wand for giant bubbles is easy to do and will only take a few minutes! There are lots of variations for making your bubble wands and feel free to simply tie rope on a few sticks for the simplest version of this diy bubble wand!

Bubble Wand Supplies:

•     2 wooden dowels
•     2 screw eyes
•     Cotton rope (at least 8 feet for one bubble wand)  
•     Washer

How to Make Your Own Homemade Bubble Wand

1. Screw the screw eyes on the end of each dowel. We were able to do this by hand, but you could drill a small hole at the top of the dowel if you need help starting this
2. Cut your cotton rope into two sizes, for large bubbles you can do one 3 feet long and one 5 feet long
3. String the washer onto the longer cotton rope string
4. Tie one end of each cotton rope to the eye hook on the first dowel, repeat this for the second dowel
5. Start making massive bubbles!

Wand Size Variations

Your cotton rope length can be adjusted depending on what size bubbles you want. We have a variety of wands, all with different lengths.

I have found that when my kids are younger they do much better if the cotton rope is a bit shorter. You just want to make sure that the second string is smaller than the first. The longer the rope the bigger bubbles you will get. My older kids love the challenge of the larger ropes! 

For larger wands it is easier to have one person at each end to create the bubble. This is a great way to work on teamwork with kids! 

Tips for Using the Bubble Wand

• Dip the wand in the solution and then slowly make a large circle, you will see that the bubbles will close off at the end of the circle. You may need to bring your dowels together to help close off the bubble.   
• I have seen people use a cotton t-shirt that they cut up and use instead of cotton rope- this would be a great cost saving way to make these if you have extra t-shirts laying around needing a new purpose.
•     Sometimes you may find that your bubble pops before you are able to complete it. If this seems to happen more often than not I would add a bit more J-Lube to your bubble mixture or let the mixture sit for a day or two and re-try. 
•     Young children may need a little help to get their bubbles completed, I’ve noticed that if there is a slight breeze it is much easier for them to do this independently.
•     The solution can add up and become slippery, we often will do this on grass to avoid anyone falling on concrete.
•      It is fun for everyone to have their own bubble wands, you can make some fun games when you have more than one bubble in the air (who’s will pop first, which one will get the highest, vote on the bubble that makes the silliest shape as it floats up to the sky)

The best part of this activity is that it is truly so much fun for kids of all ages! I have to say that often times the adults taking part in the bubble making seem to have more fun than the kids 🙂 Good luck, I’d love to hear about your bubble fun if you try this out!

More Fun Ideas with Bubbles!

• How to Make Bouncing Bubbles
• Painting with Bubbles – Fun Bubble Art for Kids
• How to Make Frozen Bubbles