Homemade Bubbles

What kid doesn't like bubbles?

It's not really bubble season, but we had a beautiful 70 degree February Saturday and J wanted to play with his bubble blowing Octopus.  We unfortunately didn't have enough bubbles left to make the toy blow bubbles, and we were temporarily car/bikeless, so trying to see if stores had bubbles wasn't going to be easy.  We did a quick Google search on homemade bubbles and found this recipe: homemade bubbles which seems to agree with a lot of other bubble recipes out there.

To fill the empty bubble container, we did the math and used:
2 tsp Ultra Concentrated Dawn
1/2 Cup + 2 Tbsp filtered water (we don't have distilled water on hand)
1/2 tsp of light corn syrup

Right away: The bubbles were great in the sense that they were heavy duty and remained a bubble shape on the floor without popping.  However, they didn't float very well compared to store bought bubbles (which in all actuality don't cost to much, so I still highly recommend them for quick and easy sciency fun).  These bubbles seemed heavy and came out one at a time.  Too much corn syrup, maybe?

Some tips on the Google search said to let the bubbles rest over night in a sealed container.  Some other sites say corn syrup is optional.  I experimented.

Results of corn syrup recipe resting:
*More bubbles per blow than previous day (pictures below).
*Still heavy compared to store bubbles, but didn't seem to sink as quickly as previous day.

Results of no corn syrup (also resting over night):
*Not recommended.  Bubbles barely formed.  No pictures since it wasn't very exciting.

Overall evaluation: Use corn syrup if making homemade bubbles.

Stomping on the bubbles

Bubble Science:

What shape is a bubble?
What do you need to create a bubble?
What different objects can you use to blow bubbles?
What happens when you blow into the bubble wand fast/slow?
What happens when you blow bubbles into a fan?
What happens when two bubbles touch?
Can you catch a bubble on the wand and blow a bubble again? How many times can you do this?
Can you blow a bubble within a bubble?
Why do bubbles float?
What colors do you see in the bubbles?
What happens to the bubbles if you touch/stomp on them?
Can you catch a bubble on your hand?
Can you touch a bubble with your ___ (name favorite body part)?

Catching bubbles on nose!

Update 2/14/11 - Bubbles work even better when rested a week!  The week old bubbles floated a lot better than last week.  The only problem with this is planning ahead!  Good luck :-)