Bubbles are awesome. When it comes to science experiments, there are lots of cool things you can do with bubbles. This bubble art project is fun and kids can experiment with different techniques.
So how do bubbles form?
The surface of a bubble is made of a thin layer of water that sits between two layers of soap. Bubbles seem empty but there is a pocket of air held inside the bubble. It is the air that keeps the bubble round and float.
To make coloured bubbles you will need;
- Some Plastic Cups
- Bubble Mixture
- Food Colouring
- Bubble Wands (or anything that will form a bubble)
- Paper
- A Tray
- Table Cloth
Bubble Art Techniques
When it comes to making art with your bubbles there are different techniques. It’s all about experimenting and having fun with it.
Firstly make your bubble mixture and add some food colouring into each cup. There are many different bubble recipes out there and some work better than others.
For this one we used;
- 6 Cups of Water (distilled is best but tap water also works)
- 1 Cup of light Corn Syrup
- 2 Cups of Dawn Washing Up Liquid
Once you’ve added your food colouring to your bubble mix its time to test out those bubbles. Lay something down on the table such as newspaper or a table cloth. Because you are using colours in your bubbles this activity does get rather messy. We also had a tray which we set our cups onto. You will see why later on lol!
Place your pieces of paper on the table in random spots. You never know where your bubbles will land so just place the paper anywhere.
Then have the kids blow their bubbles!
When the bubbles land on the paper they should leave little circles when they pop. And because they have food colour in the mixture you should be able to see the circles imprint.
Some colours come out better than others. We found the darker colours like blue and green worked better. The bubbles we were getting were awesome but they just weren’t all leaving prints.
So then we tried something else. Another technique that I remember from my college days. I got the kids to blow the bubble mixture in the cups using straws. Just this alone, the kids loved doing! This is where it gets messy lol!
WARNING: Make sure kids only blow out into the straw otherwise they will end up with a mouthful of soap mix! And it doesn’t taste very good!!
Making Prints
Once the bubbles rise to the top of the cup, place your paper on top of the bubbles for a couple of seconds.
When you lift the paper off the cup there will be a cool imprint of all the bubbles that rose to the top of the cup.
And that’s all that’s to it really. Very easy, fun and they come out so pretty. We stuck our pictures onto coloured card once they were dry.
More Bubble Fun!
As well as making bubble art, you can play around a little with your bubbles. We kept some mixture aside that had no colour in it. Here are a few ideas that are fun when playing with bubbles.
- Bouncing Bubbles– Place a glove or mitten on your hand and let the bubble bounce off your hand. The more bubbles that land on your hand the more bounce you will get.
- Frozen Bubble– We haven’t yet tried this one but I have heard its a hit! Basically exactly as it sounds. Blow a bubble and freeze it. Not quite sure how easy it is but I have seen pictures online. Very cool!
- Unpoppable Bubble– This one is a great little science experiment to do with kids. Make a dome by blowing into a straw on a flat surface (like your tray) with a small amount of bubble mix. Have the kids poke a pencil into the bubble to see it pop. Now do another dome bubble and dip the pencil into the bubble mix. Then have the kids try to pop the bubble again. The pencil will go straight through the bubble leaving it intact. My kids LOVED this one!
We started trying to pop the bubble with other instruments too. Such as scissors. And they even placed a little gingerbread eraser man in the dome. The kids were fascinated to see the unpoppable bubble stay intact.
- Bubble Inside A Bubble– An even cooler bubble trick was the double bubble! Try poking your straw into your bubble dome and blowing another bubble into it. The results are so cool. You will get a bubble inside a bubble.
- Giant Bubbles– You can also try out this giant bubble recipe that is a big hit with the kids in the summer time. Check out our post on how our bubbles turned out!
These giant bubbles are awesome and so easy to make. All you need is one secret ingredient to add to your bubble mixture!
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