Bubbles?! BUBBLES!

What kid seriously doesn't love bubbles? My kids love them that's for sure and it's such a fun and easy way to keep them occupied while mommy does mommy things! I love bubbles too. When I was a kid my Nanna would make bubbles for my cousins and me. We thought it was the most amazing thing. It wasn't until I got older and had kids of my own that I realized how easily bored we were and how hard it must have been to cope with hellions like us. Bubbles (and homemade ninja turtle masks) were Nanna's go to recipe for peace on earth! I now use the same things to distract my kids and get a little quiet time. Much like the pillow/blanket fort, however, bubbles have evolved again. You can get bubbles that are colored, bubbles that glow, regular bubbles, bubbles that are hard to pop and even bubbles with flavor. I just want to pause here and let you all know that I don't think I would ever even try flavored bubbles. I stopped trying flavored stuff that wasn't supposed to be flavored after the edible paper. That's gross by the way. Ok, back on track- as you know I try not to pay for anything that I can make at home so at one point last summer I looked up all of these recipes and now I'm going to share them with you!

Regular Bubbles
8 T dish soap
1 Quart water

Bouncing or Un-poppable Bubbles
1 cup water
2 tablespoons light karo syrup or 2 tablespoons glycerin
4 tablespoons dishwashing liquid Mix together and have fun!
The glycerin and kayro help to make a thick solution that works better than just soap and water.

Glow in the dark Bubbles
1 cup water
2 tablespoons light karo syrup or 2 tablespoons glycerin
4 tablespoons dishwashing liquid 1glow stick
snap or cut the glow stick and add the contents to the basic bubble solution. This will last only as long as the night stick holds it's glow.

Colored Bubbles

3 cups dish detergent

3 cups water

2 cups glycerin

several drops of food coloring or washable paint

just mix

As far the flavored bubbles go, I can't find a good recipe so I'm going to make one myself. Keep reading and after I figure it out you guys will be the first to know!

1. If bubbles pop easily or solution does not work well, add more water.
2. Dawn and Joy seem to be the best choices for bubbles. It is the antigrease agent.
3. Bubbles work best on an over cast day.
4. Bubbles love moisture so right after a rain also works well.
5. To catch a bubble just get your hand wet.

6. Glycerin or Kayro is added to the mix to make the bubbles more durable. The more you add, the stronger they'll be!

As far as bubble storage I saw a ridiculously cute idea on Pinterest. You just store your bubble solution in a drink container with spout for easy access! That would be great for storage while in use by the kiddos but for long term storage I would use empy plastic containers like milk jugs and juice containers.

And have you seen the different ways to blow bubbles?! Jeez, the old school bubble wand has gone to the dogs!

The Bubble Pool:

Just fill a kiddy pool with bubble solution, have someone stand in the middle and have others lifta  hula hoop from the bottom over the person!

The Bubble Snake:

The way I understand this is that it's bubbles in a bottle with the end cut off and a sock secured to the end. Here is a link for the full project.

The Classic Bubble Wand:

Here is a link to a project where you can make your own. Here is a project where you can make super bubble wands for gigantic bubbles. Bubble wands and accessories come in all shapes, designs, colors and sizes. I've seen bubble pipes shaped like old tobacco pipes, tubes, something that I think was supposed to be a kazoo. If you can remember to do it, go to your local Walmart or dollar stores right about the time summer is going and fall is coming in and you'll find masses of bubble wands in all different shapes and sizes, even bubble guns, on sale for 50-75% off. Always shop for next season!

Snow Activities for Children

It doesn't look like we're going to get to see snow this year. It sort of flurried the other day but it was one of those snows where you had to be in it and paying attention to notice. I was really looking forward to snow. The older the kids get the more I want to get them out in it, doing activities. I've got lots of ideas for snow activities and I thought I'd share them here with you.

Snow Painting:
Fill small squirt bottles (think like the condiment bottles in restaraunts) with water and food coloring or small amounts of paint and shake. Go outside and squirt in the snow to make pretty patterns.

Snow Ornaments:
These aren't actually made of snow. Fill baloons with water and food coloring and freeze. When they're fully frozen cut/tear the balloon off and take outside to decorate the yard.

The Snow Fort:
Everyone has their own method to do this. I like two methods. The hard way being to pack the snow into block or brick type shapes and stack them, if you're strong enough you can make huge bricks by packing the snow into a cooler and then flipping to lay out the block. Or the easy way, continuing to pile and pack snow until you have walls, cover in something flat and then pile more snow on top of that. You could also paint the snow with a spray bottle and "snow paint".

Snowball Fight:
Everyone loves a snowball fight! It's even better when you have forts to hide in and pelt each other. Playing capture the flag is also an awesome game to play in the forts using snowballs as ammo.

Build a Snowman:
This is another classic! You could go anywhere with this, even snow sculptures depending on your creativity. Basically a snowman is two or three balls of packed snow stacked on top of each other, the top one being the head and the largest being on the bottom. You can  use any thing to decorate your snowman. I'll make a post about that.

Snow Angels:
To make a snow angel you lay flat in the snow with your arms and legs laying out and then you move them back and forth, much like a jumping jack. When you stand your imprint in the snow will resemble an angel.

Sledding:
Sleds can range from free to cheap to there-is-no-way-I'm-paying that much at a lot of stores. Free options are laying around your home already. My brother and I have used pool floaties, trash can lids and pieces of cardboard.

Shake a Tree:
Laugh all you want, but this is fun. Stand under a small tree (deciduous trees work best), grab the trunk or a limb, and shake it as hard as you can.

Snow Cream:
This is my all time favorite thing to do, snow cream is delicious! Here's the recipe.

1 gallon snow

1 cup white sugar

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

2 cups milk

When it starts to snow, place a large, clean bowl outside to collect the flakes. When full, stir in sugar and vanilla to taste, then stir in just enough milk for the desired consistency. Serve at once.