So! Always wondered how to make your own bubble recipe?! It is that time of year again, when we turn towards making our own Homemade Giant Bubble Recipe! We love love love making our own bubble mixture – perfect for all Bubble Activities for Kids. It means the kids can just play and not worry too much if some of the bubble mixture gets knocked or spilt. After years of trial and error with our Homemade Bubble Recipe, we have found a fabulous recipe that is perfect for the biggest bubbles ever (and as it turns out.. it is the same recipe the Bubble Show at the London Science Museum also uses)! You only need 3 simple ingredients to make this bubble recipe, one of which is WATER.. so come on.. you KNOW You want to give this Bubble Recipe a go. And once you have made your bubble mixture, make sure to give our GIANT Bubble Wands a go, as well as check out these DARLING beaded DIY Bubble Wands (they make a GREAT bubble party activity and bubble party gift idea too!).
Easy 3 Ingredient DIY Bubble Recipe
When to make your own Bubble Mixture Recipe
Spring is a great time for US to make a BIG BATCH of our Giant Bubble Recipe. To be honest, you can make it all year round (of course you can!! Hahahaha, it is perfect for Party Favours too), but we tend to mix up a big batch around the Easter holidays.. as my kids are home, it is a fun activity to do together AND they are starting to play outside more. Though there are lots of Bubble Activities that you can do indoors (more on that soon, I promise!), I love to just send the kids **outside* with their bubble mixtures and let them play and explore.
The key thing about any bubble mixture, is to make it AHEAD of time.. it gets better 2-3 days after being made!
When they were little we focussed on small bubbles, making our own DIY Bubble Wands.
Ingredients needed for your Giant Bubble Mixture Recipe
Yes… this is it…….. our recipe is one of the SIMPLEST Bubble Recipes out and this Bubble Mixture Recipe works for both “small bubbles” and GIANT Bubbles!
There are lots of Bubble Recipes out there, which can be a bit confusing. So we tried and tested and now we share our favourite … It really IS as simple as 1, 2, 3.. you only need, water, washing up liquid and glycerine..
Yes! This is how easy it is to make your own bubble mixture – water soap & glycerine!
As you can see.. This is easy bubble recipe works for GIANT Bubbles too! Add more glycerine for stronger bubbles..
…Or small bubbles.. both are fun to play with!
So – DIY Bubble Solution – Ingredients:
This bubble mixture recipe is endorsed by the SCIENCE MUSEUM in London – the perfect bubble recipe uk!!! They use exactly the same one (we had been using it for years… and one day went to see the Bubble Show at the Science Museum and were delighted to discover that they use the same bubble recipe as us! Whoop whoop!).
- 1 Liter (1/5 gallon) of (hot) water,
- 250ml (1 cup) of GOOD quality washing up liquid (in the UK the Fairy Liquid brand really is best)
- 2-4 table spoons of glycerine (glycerine makes the bubbles thick and last longer – we added 4 spoons, though 2 should be enough) – you can buy Glycerine in bulk here US/ UK (affiliate links)
You can find glycerine in the baking session of your supermarket. Glycerin is also great for adding to playdough, as well as snowglobes. So if you are a DIY mum, you will find many uses for it!
Watch our Bubble Video How to or read the instructions below!
Now, as per usual, we have a fabulous bubble recipe making video (as well as how to make a DIY Giant Bubble wand) video for you below, or you can follow our simple step by step written instructions!
1) Mix all your bubble mixture ingredients together.
Tip 1: Try to avoid making bubbles as you do it – i.e. mix it as gently as possible.
2) Leave the bubble solution over night.
Tip 2: The longer you leave your bubble mixture the better, if using as party favours, make it 1-2 before!
The kids then went and trialled it for giant bubbles AND in our bubble machine. They seemed happy (but disappointed than generally they could only manage 2-4 bubbles in one go).
Look at that happy little face! I think that is a thumbs up for this recipe for bubbles!
Summer… her we come, we are ready – tons of bubbles to keep us busy!!!
How to make your own Giant Bubble Wands
Before we visit the GIANT Bubble Wand (also shared in the video above), I just want to mention that we have some super duper CUTE beaded bubble wands for you to check out. The kids will LOVE them. Both wands will work great with this bubble recipe.
And here is a Giant Bubble Wands craft – so cute and they work SUPER WELL with our recipes! We have two methods.
Giant Wands can be made like this:
The Straws wand is great for big shallow dishes, the stick one is great for deeper dishes. We preferred the stick method because we didn’t have a big enough dish, plus you get your fingers all soapy!
Looking for Bubble Activities? Here are some GREAT Bubble Play and Bubble Art ideas!
- We have an extensive list of Bubble Activities for Kids, including Bubble Art Projects!
- Check out these COOL 3D Bubble Wands – great science for kids!
- Fun with Bubble Snakes
- Create fabulous Bubble Art
- And love this post about Mindfulness with Bubble Play
- Bubble wands are great for New Year’s Eve too – avoid all the noise and have some bubbles for both you and the kids: make cute New Year’s Eve Bubble Wands!
Scuttlebutter says
May 20, 2013 at 7:15 pmLovely thanks. May even have some glycerin in the baking cupboard!
Red Ted Art says
May 20, 2013 at 7:56 pmPerfect! I now need to stock up on it!!
Sally B says
August 17, 2017 at 12:20 amGlycerin is also available at the chemists in the coughs and colds section – a lot cheaper as well
Sian says
May 21, 2013 at 5:24 pmI love blowing bubbles never mind my son : )
Red Ted Art says
May 21, 2013 at 7:17 pmGood point!
Pinkoddy says
July 31, 2013 at 10:10 amWell I never knew that – always just used washing up liquid and water. Thank you for sharing.
MummyNeverSleeps says
July 31, 2013 at 10:22 amWow, I had no idea about the glycerin! Brilliant tips, looking forward to trying them out 😀
Red Ted Art says
July 31, 2013 at 10:23 amHave fun!!
Mike says
January 11, 2014 at 3:30 pmThis is a BRILLIANT idea!
Stella says
March 21, 2014 at 11:13 pmSuch a fun activity for children! Do you have an idea for mkaing the blowers that I could use for a prep class?
Fiona says
March 22, 2014 at 11:26 pmI’m a bit confused with the amounts. It says 250ml (1/2 cup) of washing up liquid. 250ml is 1 cup so are we meant to use 1 or 1/2 cup?
Red Ted Art says
March 23, 2014 at 10:45 am1 cup!!! That is an error. Will fix now!
Ana says
March 23, 2014 at 12:15 pmI am a bit confused on the type of soap to use. Is liquid dish wash soap or liquid hand wash soap best?
Red Ted Art says
March 23, 2014 at 12:39 pmDish soap!
Off the Couch Kids says
March 23, 2014 at 8:25 pmLooking forward to making lots of rainbow bubbles, thanks!
Patsy says
April 22, 2014 at 2:03 pmi actually added corn syrup to some Dollar Tree bubles and got huge bubbles going to try that with glycerin might work better some of my bubbles that were around 6 inches even sat on grass for over 5 minutes before popping they have to land just right but some do 🙂
Brett Belleque says
April 26, 2014 at 4:20 pmPlease note that adding glycerin to your bubble recipe makes them dangerous if ingested. Bubbles sold in toy stores are labeled non-toxic because they contain no glycerin. Substitute corn syrup for the glycerin and they should work just as well! And be safe for kids. The biggest environmental factor for balloons is humidity. The dryer the air the more likely the bubbles won’t last long. Experiment with adding more water to your mix if you live in a dry climate!
paul says
August 19, 2014 at 12:26 amVegetable glycerin is a common food additive. It is used to sweeten and to thicken liquids. It is also used in many medications and herbal tincture. It’s not toxic and won’t poison your bubbles.
Holly says
June 12, 2014 at 11:38 amThank you so much better than washing up liquid for hours of fun with my children
Amanda Ripsam says
June 15, 2014 at 4:58 amLooks like a lot of fun, my 7 year old daughter would love it as she loves bubbles
Mumof2.com says
July 8, 2014 at 5:04 pmAha! Finally I know why my bubbles never work as well as the shop bought buubbles! Have never heard of using glycerine too but am going to give it a try!
Krystal says
July 11, 2014 at 10:38 amI love the photo with the bubble at the front of the picture. I’m not sure if I love bubbles more or my kids.
Laura says
July 23, 2015 at 3:04 amDo you know if eco-friendly dish soaps work just as well?
Lesle Hall says
April 8, 2016 at 5:33 amMy husband got into making bubble mixture a while back. He found that adding shampoo really worked well – the clear kind, not the pearlescent kind. Just add some to your recipe & see. Also playing with bubbles on a misty or damp day makes a huge difference – they last much longer!
Red Ted Art says
April 8, 2016 at 8:33 amOoh thanks for the tips!
Theresa Murray says
April 10, 2016 at 8:26 pmDefinitely going to try this my kids love bubbles and my son ( 10) wants to always try to make big bubbles so now I have something for him to try to make big ones with thanks a lot
Erin Mckain says
May 5, 2016 at 12:29 pmWhat brand for dish soap. There are so many brands out there
Red Ted Art says
May 6, 2016 at 7:34 amWe used Fairy Liquid (a British brand). Basically go with your LEADING brand. Good quality is important here!
Alexandru says
March 7, 2017 at 5:17 pmnice project!!
Alison says
April 20, 2017 at 3:16 pmLove this post! Bubble play is so fun! Thanks for linking to my post on mindful bubble play. 🙂
Red Ted Art says
April 20, 2017 at 4:05 pmmy pleasure!
Eileen Labrecque says
July 18, 2018 at 9:49 pmFun family time, thx 😉
Shweta says
August 28, 2018 at 11:51 amLovely and brilliant idea. My lo always wants them and finishes in a minute. Will make these at home. TIA
Red Ted Art says
August 29, 2018 at 9:43 amwonderful! Enjoy