Copycat Juggle Bubble Recipe for Family Fun

Juggle Bubble

Sure buying bubbles from the local dollar store is cheap and easy! But what if you could make a strong bubble solution similar to Juggle Bubble at home?

We have an easy tutorial to show you how to make Juggle Bubbles with the kids.

• Water – 1 Cup
• Glycerin – 1/2 Cup
• Dawn dishwashing soap – 1 Cup

Juggle Bubble

I have been on the search for homemade super strong bubbles ever since buying bubbles from the amazing Gymboree. These bubbles are super strong and are hard to pop, which make them perfect for the kids to play with for more than a few minutes.

I have almost cracked their code, but just nearly.

I’ve asked the staff what the formula is, but the most I’ve gotten out of them is:

It’s edible and made from sugar.  

I tried to reduce the amount of Dawn to make these bubbles edible but with no luck.

Instead, I have and am sharing the recipe for bubbles you can juggle!  Of course the moment we reached success, the Juggle Bubbles commercial came on television and my kids got crazy excited!  I had to chuckle, we just MADE JUGGLE BUBBLES!  No need to buy them!  These homemade super strong bubbles are inexpensive to make, fun to play with, and can help learn a little science as you play.

The secret is in the socks or gloves the kids wear.  If you can’t find clean socks or gloves (I’m horrible at doing laundry) you can wet your kid’s hands.  This is a science activity so you can throw in some fun facts as your kids juggle the bubbles.

The Science of Super Strong Bubbles:

• The oils in your skin break the surface tension of the water on the bubble.
• Any dirt causes the detergent to move around the dirt and make the water film weaker and thus the bubble bursts.
• The single most important part of the bubble solution is the water. Good quality water that does not contain high levels of iron or minerals is best. Use distilled if you are unsure about your water quality.
• When it comes to soap, Dawn® dish soap just seems to work the best for homemade bubble solutions.
• Glycerin is the secret additive that gives a bubble its extra strength. Don’t be too shocked by the price on a bottle of high-quality glycerin.
• The soap mixture on the outside of a bubble is made of three very thin layers: soap, water, and another layer of soap. This “sandwich” that is on the outside of a bubble is called a soap film.
• A bubble pops when the water that is trapped between the layers of soap evaporates.
• The glycerin or corn syrup mixes with the soap to make it thicker.  The thicker skin of the glycerin bubbles keeps the water from evaporating as quickly, so they last longer. It also makes them stronger, so you can juggle them.

Fun Bubble Facts:

Similar to the way we perceive the colors in a rainbow or an oil slick, we see the colors in a bubble through the reflection and the refraction of light waves off of the inner and outer surfaces of the bubble wall. A bubble reflects color from its surroundings.

Juggle Bubble