Screen Free Fun with Bubbles: from the Parent Powerline

Screen Free Fun with Bubbles: from the Parent Powerline
Thursday, March 26, 2026 by Becky Cerling Powers

Categories: Parent Powerline

screen-free activities for kids Does anybody ever outgrow the fun of blowing bubbles?

Babies are fascinated watching the way bubbles form and float.

Littles love to chase them.

And although preschoolers can usually learn to blow bubbles themselves, most still prefer chasing to blowing.

When older kids tire of blowing,

they like learning how to make specialty bubbles, like half bubbles or a bubble inside a bubble. And adults can have a great time doing whatever the kids are doing.

You can use bubble making to liven up a dull day for half an hour.

Or use it to teach a little math and science. Or turn it into an elaborate party activity, requiring advance planning and special equipment.

Here are some bubble activities from Einstein’s Science Parties: Easy Parties for Curious Kids, by Shar Levine and Allison Grafton (John Wiley & Sons):

Homemade Bubble Solution Recipe

Gently mix together ½ cup dish washing liquid (Dawn or Joy work well), 1 cup water, and ¼ cup glycerin. This makes enough for about three kids. (You can usually find glycerin at a drugstore alongside hand creams and lotions.)

For bubble stunts, like blowing a bubble inside a bubble, add ¼ cup corn syrup to make the bubbles tough.

And be warned: tough bubble stuff is sticky, messy stuff.

So keep a damp wash rag and a bucket of water and never blow these bubbles indoors. The rule is: Outside Only!

Here are a few ideas for simple bubble activities:

Blow and chase bubbles

Make creative bubble blowers.

Recycle household materials into bubble blowing tools. Just about anything with a hole through it will do. For example, dip the end of an empty toilet paper tube in bubble solution and slowly blow.

Or try a piece of screen. A short section of garden hose works, funnels work, and so do straws. Pipe cleaners and wire coat hangers can be reshaped into bubble wands.

Toddlers love to dip a fly swatter into bubble solution, swish it through the air, and make a stream of teeny tiny bubbles.

Produce weird bubbles and crazy bubbles

Pour a little bubble solution into a paper cup and blow into it with straw to make bubble cascades and multi-bubbles. Just be sure that kids blow into the straw instead of sucking on it!

Blow up a balloon, tie it, and let kids rub it on their hair to make static electricity. Then blow bubbles into the air and try to move the bubbles around by holding the charged balloon near them.

Play bubble basketball with older kids

Set up a bucket on your driveway, sidewalk, or in the yard. Take a wire coat hanger and reshape it into a bubble wand that can create basketball-sized bubbles. Once you've got a nice, big bubble floating a bit away from the bucket, your child can try blowing it into the bucket.

The key to scoring is to keep that bubble from bursting! Adjust the challenge based on your child’s age and skill level by moving the bucket closer or farther away.

And here are some harder, messier activities, also for older kids:

Create handmade bubbles

Dip your hand into the bubble brew, make a fist, and then open it slowly, forming a circle with your thumb and index finger. Inside the circle there should be a film of bubble solution. Gently blow into the circle to make bubbles.

Make bubble halves

Using a plastic table, or covering a table with a plastic tablecloth, smear a thin layer of bubble solution on the table top, dip a straw into the solution, and start blowing gently, just barely above the layer of solution on the table.

After kids get good at making bubble halves, they can try teamwork. Start a big bubble half, then have one or two other people push a wet straw gently through the bubble half and blow slowly. See how big you can make the bubble.

Try to form a bubble inside a bubble.

Blow a big bubble half on the table, then wet the straw with more solution. Be sure some of the solution stays inside the straw. Gently poke the wet straw into the bubble half and blow, forming a second bubble inside the first one.

Compete in a bubble contest

Line people up along a table smeared with bubble solution. Have them use straws to blow half bubbles all at the same time. Measure the bubbles with a string and give prizes to the ones who blow the biggest bubbles. Or use a stopwatch to see whose bubble lasts the longest.

Fashion a giant Bubble-Bug

Line people up along a table smeared with bubble solution. Have everyone use straws to blow half bubbles at the same time and try to join their bubbles into a long, giant caterpillar.

Produce Bubble Art

When the bubble solution gets too filmy to create bubbles, let kids draw designs in it on the table.

Making Bubble Prints is an even messier, but more permanent, art project. Starting with three bowls of bubble solution, stir 3 heaping tablespoons of powdered tempera paint into each bowl, making three different colors of bubble solution.

One child stands nearby with a piece of paper, and the other uses a straw to blow into the solution until a bubble forms. Slip the paper under the bubble. When it pops, the colored solution will make a nifty print. Experiment with more than one bubble color or using different colors of paper. Make birthday cards and Christmas cards this way!

Create a table-sized bubble

Rub your hands in bubble solution and smear it on the table until it is thoroughly wet with solution. Placing your index fingers and thumbs together, make a circle with both hands, stretching a film of bubble solution inside the circle.

Keeping your hands close to the tabletop, begin gently blowing through the hand circle to make a bubble on the table. Gradually raise your hands higher as the bubbles gets bigger. When your bubble is a giant, squeeze your hands shut to close the bubble.

There you go. Now you can relax and have fun making and chasing bubbles with your littles, or you can turn your older kids loose outdoors for an hour or two of screen-free bubble delight.

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Becky Cerling Powers blogs at www.beckypowers.com. She is the author of the nonfiction novel, Forbidden Orphanage Outside the Forbidden City, the children’s picture book Wherever I Go: Psalm 139 for Kids, and the parenting insight guide, Sticky Fingers, Sticky Minds: quick reads for helping kids thrive. You can find her books on her website or wherever books are sold.

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