We escaped the heat of Florida summer for a trip to Gloucester, Massachusetts.  Our family celebrated birthdays, hiked to quarries, swam in cool waters, and enjoyed ourselves immensely.

I take my job as an aunt seriously.  Since I live far away, I have to squeeze in as much fun as possible when we’re together. Just taking a walk with these kids is entertaining, but these bubbles were unforgettable.  You’ll find instructions for making wands and bubble juice at the end of the post.

We used bamboo canes for the wands.  I was afraid they would be difficult to use because they were so long, but even the smallest of the bunch made huge bubbles with them right away.  Every one found their own bubbling style.  We had barefoot bubblers and shoe-bouncing bubblers.  Some wanted to pop every bubble, while others watched them float away free.

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Giant Bubble Wand

• 2 bamboo rods, each about 5 feet long
• 10 feet of 1/8″ cotton string
• 2 metal washers

To assemble:  Drill a 1/8 inch hole in the top of the bamboo.  Cut two 3-inch pieces of string.  Thread a loop of string though the hole in the bamboo and tie it with a knot, leaving a 1-inch opening.

Thread the rest of the string through the two loops at the top of each bamboo rod and thread the washers through the bottom half.  Tie it off in a knot.  When outstretched, the rope should form a triangle with 1/3 across the top and 2/3 at the bottom, divided by the washer.

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Giant Bubble Juice

Ingredients:

• 1 cup Dawn Ultra dish soap (no substitutions)
• 2 tablespoons rubbing alcohol
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons guar gum*
• hot water
• one pot or plastic container (large enough to hold more than 1 gallon of water)

Directions:

Fill the container with half a gallon of hot water.  Stir in baking powder.

In a separate container, mix the guar gum and alcohol to form a slurry.  Add two cups of hot water and whisk well.   Pour this into the container with the water/baking powder mixture.  Mix well.

Stir in the dish soap.

Top it off with another 1/2 gallon of hot water, stirring gently to avoid foam.

Let it sit for at least an hour, or overnight.

*Guar gum is used in gluten-free baking.  It can be found at natural food stores or ordered online.

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Making Giant Bubbles

When you’re ready to make bubbles, soak the rope of the wands in the bubble juice for a few minutes so they are completely saturated.  To make a giant bubble, hold the wands together.  Dip the rope in the bubble juice.  Lift the wand up holding the rods together and then slowly separate them as you bring them high overhead.  Let the wind catch the bubble or walk backwards to help it along.  To form a complete bubble, close the wands together to seal it off.

Be sure to cover your eyes if your cousins try to put you inside a bubble.

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