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! Let’s see how easy this homemade bubble solution really is to make!

Making your own mixture 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)! It is a perfect recipe for all Bubble Activities for Kids. And this bubble recipe only needs 3 Ingredients!
Bubbles for birthday parties
Make a batch of DIY Bubble mixture, fill some jars. Make some pipe cleaner wands and you have a great Birthday Party Craft and Birthday favour gifts!
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!
Best bubble recipe for GIANT and SMALL 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 …
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! My kids LOVE to blow bubbles and even more.. they love to pop them. Hours of garden fun!
Ingredients for your DIY Bubble Solution
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) tap water,
- 250ml (1 cup) of GOOD quality washing up liquid/ dish soap / dishwashing liquid (in the UK the Fairy Liquid brand really is best)
- 2-4 tablespoons glycerin
- A jar or container is helpful to store your homemade bubbles in
The glycerin helps with the surface tension of your bubbles making them “thicker” and last longer. 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! If you can’t find glycerin, some people like using light corn syrup. There are lots of bubble solution recipes using a cup sugar and a cup corn starch or require you to disolve sugar – but for us, our recipe works best!
How to make your bubble solutio – video tutorial & step by step instructions
The video tutorial is on auto play and has been made quick and easy to watch. You can also see some of our bubbles in action!
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) Pour your warm water into a bowl – you are literally using plain water. Nothing fancy!
2) Add your dish soap gradually. I used the measurements of the bottle. It was 500ml – so added half. Saves me making another utensil dirty – but you roughly need one cup of dish soap.
3) Gently stir in your tablespoons of glycerin.
Tip 1: Try to avoid making bubbles as you do it – i.e. mix it as gently as possible.
4) Pour in jars for storage, secure the lid and 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!
This really is a simple recipe! 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 , 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! You can make a huge bubble with the sticks and it is super fun.
More Homemade Bubble Wand Ideas:
Make your own Bubble wands using cookie cutters (to shape), pipe cleaners and beads! The kids will LOVE this summer activity – great for play dates too! The fuzziness of the pipe cleaner is a great for the bubble solution to “grip” and allow for the bubble to hold and then form. A great way to play with your soap bubbles.
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
Lovely thanks. May even have some glycerin in the baking cupboard!
Red Ted Art says
Perfect! I now need to stock up on it!!
Sally B says
Glycerin is also available at the chemists in the coughs and colds section – a lot cheaper as well
Sian says
I love blowing bubbles never mind my son : )
Red Ted Art says
Good point!
Pinkoddy says
Well I never knew that – always just used washing up liquid and water. Thank you for sharing.
MummyNeverSleeps says
Wow, I had no idea about the glycerin! Brilliant tips, looking forward to trying them out 😀
Red Ted Art says
Have fun!!
Mike says
This is a BRILLIANT idea!
Stella says
Such a fun activity for children! Do you have an idea for mkaing the blowers that I could use for a prep class?
Fiona says
I’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
1 cup!!! That is an error. Will fix now!
Ana says
I 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
Dish soap!
Off the Couch Kids says
Looking forward to making lots of rainbow bubbles, thanks!
Patsy says
i 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
Please 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
Vegetable 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
Thank you so much better than washing up liquid for hours of fun with my children
Amanda Ripsam says
Looks like a lot of fun, my 7 year old daughter would love it as she loves bubbles
Mumof2.com says
Aha! 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
I 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
Do you know if eco-friendly dish soaps work just as well?
Lesle Hall says
My 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
Ooh thanks for the tips!
Theresa Murray says
Definitely 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
What brand for dish soap. There are so many brands out there
Red Ted Art says
We used Fairy Liquid (a British brand). Basically go with your LEADING brand. Good quality is important here!
Alexandru says
nice project!!
Alison says
Love this post! Bubble play is so fun! Thanks for linking to my post on mindful bubble play. 🙂
Red Ted Art says
my pleasure!
Eileen Labrecque says
Fun family time, thx 😉
Shweta says
Lovely and brilliant idea. My lo always wants them and finishes in a minute. Will make these at home. TIA
Red Ted Art says
wonderful! Enjoy