Do you remember your favorite springtime activities as a kid? Perhaps, you spent your afternoons playing outside. Days spent running, skipping and tossing balls. Things were different for us, before tablets, apps and video games came along. I remember reenacting episodes of Star Trek out on the swing set with my siblings. Yes, I am that old.
My best friend, Kristen, lived next door to us. We often spent days coming up with new cheers and dance routines. In the evenings, our parents and siblings were forced to sit and watch our productions.
Mom used to make homemade bubble solution by the gallon. She made so many things herself, from our Sunday dresses to homemade mayonnaise. The latter I didn’t enjoy quite so much. I wanted the stuff that came in a jar. If only I knew then what I know now.
Although a lot has changed, I love that many of the simple activities like blowing bubbles and playing hopscotch are still popular with kids. This spring and summer, I will be helping my family enjoy some of the good old-fashioned fun that I got to experience as a kid.
Blowing bubbles is great fun, especially when you make your own wands and blowers. The thing about bubbles is that they bring out the kid in all of us.
To make your own bubble solution, you’ll need:
3 cups hot water
1/2 cup light corn syrup
1/2 cup dish soap
In a large bowl or container, add the corn syrup to the water and stir until it is dissolved. Slowly add the dish soap and stir well. Pour the bubble solution into a container with a tight fitting lid.
You can make a variety of your own bubble blowers. Gather some straws into a bunch and wrap them in tape. Another option is to take a soda or water bottle and cut off the end with a sharp blade. If younger kids will be using this blower, you might want to gently sand the cut edge with a piece of sand paper.
Bubble wands are oh-so easy to make! All you need is some pipe cleaners. Bend them into the shapes that you want, leaving a short end to hold on to.
We made ours bubble wands in the shape of stars, flowers, squares and more.
One of my favorite things as a kid was heading into the house, after an afternoon of play, for the delicious snack mom had ready for us. Oh, how I loved mac and cheese. I still do.
What are your favorite springtime memories from childhood?
I love your DIY wands. I think I am going to make those with my kids when it warms up a little bit.
They sure looks like a lot of fun on a summer day!
Those look adorable! I remember catching lightning bugs in a jar when I was a kid! We would do that all summer!
This is so fun! I have made homemade bubbles before but never made my own wands. I didn’t even know you could.
Me neither, but I am going to try it. We have some nice spring weather here this weekend, so I think I might try it tomorrow.
My kids are always losing their bubble wands. And since I would rather make our own bubble solution anyways, I think we’re going to make our own wands too. Especially since I have a ton of pipe cleaners!
How fun. I’ve made bubbles before plenty of times but never wands. How awesome, easy and a much better way to do it then constantly buying new ones!
I never even thought to use pipe cleaners as bubble wands. What a brilliant idea!
I love those bubble wands, it is tons of fun in the summer!
Thanks for sharing this recipe. The boy can go through bubbles like crazy and I expect him to go through a lot this summer.
I was just saying we need to make some bubbles. We ran out of the solution in the Easter basekts. 🙂
We use to get the small 600 ml bottles and attach a sock to the end – that makes the coolest bubble train.