Tag Archives: outdoor play

homemade giant bubbles

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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!

giant homemade bubbles - happy hooligans

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.

Ingredients for homemade giant bubbles

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?

giant homemade bubbles

homemade giant bubbles

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.giant homemade bubbles

*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: homemade giant bubble want - straws/string  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!

This was truly a fabulous activity, and great for all ages, my son and I had just as much fun with it as the young ones did.

Leaf Maze

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leaf mazeNo need to get all wordy about this leaf maze.   I’ll just let the pictures speak for themselves. :) leaf maze, kids walkingkids running through leaf maze

how to make a leaf mazefall leaf maze - outdoor activitiesAnd here’s a shot of a fall labyrinth that I made a couple of years ago.

What are you waiting for!  Grab your rake and get out there and make your own leaf maze before the snow flies!If you’re looking for another awesome way to use your leaves, pop over and check out our roadways in the leaves!  The hooligans played in those for the better part of a week!

corn run with hoses and funnels

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It’s time for another OUTDOOR PLAY PARTY!
We’ve had this corn run with funnels and hoses set up in the backyard for about a week, and it has provided hours of entertainment for the Hooligans.corn run with funnels and hoses

If you’ve been following along with us, you know how we spent a whole lot of time, earlier this month, picking kernels of corn off the cob to make our our corn and chestnut sensory bin. materials for corn run with funnels and hoses That,  in itself, was a super activity that kept the Hooligans busy off and on for days on end, and they have thoroughly enjoyed playing with the bin, scooping and pouring into assorted bowls and muffin tins.corn run funnels and hoses through chain link fence

Last week, I put a new spin on the bin, and I rigged some plastic hoses up to our chain-link fence.   This fence surrounds our pool when we have it set up in the summer.  When the pool comes down in the fall, I move a lot of the “loose” daycare toys and equipment into that area.  The hooligans love it because they suddenly have their own little gated playground in one small corner of our yard.  We still spend the bulk of our time in the open yard, especially in the very back at the playhouse and sandbox, but this little nook is a favourite place to visit through-out the day.

Anyway – back to the hoses!  These are pool hoses.  The long one doesn’t work with our pool, and the short one, I cut from a piece of old, damaged hose.  I pushed the ends of the hoses through a hole in the chain-link, and for the larger hose, I used a few zip-ties to hold in place.  I also cut the tops off a couple of plastic energy drink bottles to serve as funnels at the top of each hose.  I taped the funnels in place.

Next I set up a couple of “stools”.  One for the children to stand on, to reach the top of the highest hose, and one to hold a big bowl of our corn and chesnuts.

A bin on the other side of the fence, catches the corn and chestnuts that come flying through the corn run.

The Hooligans have had a great time pouring the corn into the hoses and catching it at the other end.  I’ve truly been surprised by how much time they’ve spent at the corn run this week, and how long it holds their attention for.

They all take turns pouring and catching.  There’s lots of concentration involved, climbing up and down from their stool, and lifting small cups and scoops, filled with corn, up high to dump into the hoses.

On the other side of the fence we have children catching the corn in scoops or small bowls or in their hands.  They like to pretend that the child pouring is “feeding the elephants at the zoo”.

Often a chestnut gets stuck in the long hose, jamming everything up, and they all work together to shake the hose and the fence to dis-lodge it and get the corn running again.

Such a simple activity has provided such fun, and so many opportunities for learning!

How have you been playing outdoors at your house this week? We’d love for you to link up your outdoor posts and share with us!

Last week, there were over 35 outdoor play activities linked up to the Outdoor Play Party!  My favourite was Science and Colors in a Cup by Toddlers Through Preschool!  It’s a simple and fun activity with an element of “surprise” that little ones will love!



painting with shaving cream

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Painting with shaving cream is something I’ve had on our to-do list for a while now.  The amazing Anna from The Imagination Tree made shaving cream bath paint last winter and I love how she served hers up.

If you only have one or two little ones, the shaving cream paint is a fabulous bath-time activity.  I play with a sightly larger crowd though so I made a mental note to figure out how to do something similar without having to squeeze a bunch of Hooligans into my bathtub or guest-shower.

Last night it dawned on me:  our sliding glass doors!  One pane of glass is obstructed by the sliding screen, and I didn’t want my little artists to be crammed around just the one pane, so I popped the screen door off the track and set it aside so they’d have both panes to paint on.  PERFECT!

Ok!  Let’s get to it.  This activity is SUPER easy to prepare!  

Squirt some shaving cream into a muffin tin and add a few drops of food colouring.

Let your little ones stir up their colours.

Grab your paintbrushes and go nuts. :)

They LOVED this activity!  Even my twelve year old, who was home this morning because he was heading out to a hockey tournament, got in on the action.

Honestly, they had a blast.  They were at it for about an hour, and when 3 of them finally finished up and moved on  one of the youngest ones stayed at it for a good 15 or 20 minutes more.  Who knew something this simple would keep them entertained for this long?  It was a great way to spend the morning.

And when they were done, I filled up a bucket with warm water and handed out sponges, and we had a whole new activity on our hands (not to mention squeaky-clean sliding glass doors). ;)

If you’re looking for more shaving cream activities to do with your little ones, check out our marbleized shaving cream activity (it’s SO awesome!), our very simple shaving cream sensory bin and our awesome shaving cream car wash.

If this is your first time visiting Happy Hooligans, please be sure to pop over to our facebook page!  There’s always lots of good stuff going on there!  We’d love to have you join us there. :)