Make the biggest bubbles ever with a few simple kitchen ingredients…

I originally published this post last June, but SPRING has SPRUNG, and it’s time to re-visit some of our all-time favourite backyard play posts!
This one is definitely tops on our list!

Homemade giant bubbles have been on our to-do list for a while but we were waiting for the perfect weather conditions: a day that is humid and overcast, with very little wind is idealThe air was pretty thick and humid here yesterday so I whipped up a some Giant Bubble Mix in the morning, and we tried it out after nap-time in the afternoon.

I have to admit, I was not altogether convinced that this recipe would work. The ingredients seemed strange, the cornstarch didn’t completely dissolve into the solution, and when I dipped my hand in, to kind of test what it felt like, it just didn’t feel like it would be slick and slippery enough to produce bubbles of any kind.

How wrong was I?

It was FANTASTIC!

I got my inspiration for this activity from Design Dazzle, but I’ve tweaked the recipe a little because I didn’t have the ummm… interesting ”secret ingredient”. Please pop over to see Design Dazzle’s Giant Bubble Kit with printables. She has a tutorial for a Bubble Gift Set that would make a super for a summer birthday.

Here’s how I made my mixture.

6 cups water (distilled is best but tap water is fine)
1/2 cup Dawn dish soap (blue) *I used the ultra concentrated, but NON ultra (original) is supposed to work even better.
1/2 cup corn starch (corn flour in the UK)
1 tbsp baking POWDER (not baking soda)
1 tbsp glycerine (in place of design dazzle’s secret ingredient)

Dissolve the cornstarch in the water, stirring really well. Then add the rest of the ingredients, stirring gently to mix. Try to avoid any vigorous stirring. You don’t want to create a lot of froth. Let your mixture sit for at least an hour before using it. You may have to stir occasionally during that hour if you see the cornstarch settling to the bottom of your container. Some of ours continued to settle even while we played with it, but it was fine.

**I used tap water, but I’d like to try using the water from my de-humidifier to see if it makes a difference. I think it might be more similar to distilled water.

*I noticed that the more we played with the mixture, the better it got. The first several attempts didn’t work, or the bubbles popped immediately, and I was feeling deflated, but the mixture somehow seemed to get silkier the more our hands were in it, and before we knew it, we were creating these HUGE bubbles. Some would lift off, and float way above the houses and out of sight. It was crazy-cool! You’ll find your groove too – lifting your arms high, to catch the breeze, while walking backwards worked best for us.

Easy homemade giant bubble wand:

I didn’t go to all the effort of making Dazzle Design’s beautiful wooden “bubble wand”. I improvised with this quick and easy alternative: I used two straws, and threaded through a long length of yarn (probably 6 to 8 times longer than the length of one straw). Knot the yarn and you’re good to go!