Bubble Basics

Essentials:

• 5 gallon bucket with a lid
• Spray bottle
• Squeegee
• A few rags or old towels
• Several medium and small containers

Recipe:

• Four gallons of water
• One bottle of glycerin
• One medium bottle of Dawn dish soap

HELPFUL HINTS:

• Absolutely NO stirring.  Stirring adds air and air is the mortal enemy to a bubble.  This also gives you a sudsy solution and it is hard to blow a good bubble.
• Everything must be wet: spray the tables, children’s hands and any “tools” with the water bottle.  A bubble pops when it touches anything dry.
• Squeegee off the tables into a bucket after the experiment.  
• When the time comes to wash the floor afterwards, DO NOT use soapy water.  It will just become insanely sudsy.  Use vinegar and water.  Vinegar cuts the bubble solution.
• When trying to get students to understand or try something, don’t give students direct orders unless it is a safety issue.  Pose it as a question to guide them and let them experiment to figure out the answer for themselves.  It means so much more!  Example: What would happen if you____________?  How would your bubble change if you _______________?  What could you do so that your long sleeve shirt doesn’t pop your bubbles?
• Experiments must be done INSIDE!  While from the practical stand point of clean up, it seems this should be an outside activity; there are too many factors that interfere with the experiments: especially wind, dry air and sun.