This season, we welcome your family to participate in our Bubble Juice investigation. This is designed for children to be involved as much as possible. We hope you enjoy this chance to test out different recipes for bubble juice, observe the different results, and enjoy arriving at your family's favorite recipe!

Remember, this is not meant to be perfect, and kids will be happy just that you are mixing and transforming ingredients into new concoctions. Have fun with this, and see what happens. Feel free to adapt or truncate the recipes too—that is it's own way to play and learn! Here’s how you can start:

Step 1: Gather materials

• Dish washing soap
• Sugar
• Glycerin (found in craft and hardware stores)
• Baking soda or cornstarch
• Food coloring or colorful spices (e.g. turmeric)

Step 2: Test out Recipe #1 (simple sugar bubbles)

• Get a large cup or container (mason jars are great for observing).
• Pour 1/2 cup of dish soap into the container.
• Add 1 1/2 cups of water.
• Measure 2 teaspoons of sugar and add it to the water/soap mixture.
• Gently stir your mixture.
• Feel, smell and look at the mixture. What do you notice? Record your thoughts in audio or on paper.
• Go outside and make bubbles! What do you notice about the bubbles? How long do they last? How do they feel/look/behave?
• (Optional) Record your observations in audio, video or on paper.

Step 3: Test out Recipe #2 (glycerin bubbles)

• Get a larger container
• Pour 1/2 cup of dish soap into the container.
• Add 4 cups of water.
• Measure 1-2 tablespoons of glycerin and add it to the water/soap mixture.
• Measure 1 tablespoon of cornstarch and add it to the water/soap mixture.
• Gently stir your mixture.
• Feel, smell and look at the mixture. What do you notice? Record your thoughts in audio or on paper.
• Go outside and make bubbles! What do you notice about the bubbles? How long do they last? How do they feel/look/behave?
• (Optional) Record your observations in audio, video or on paper.

Step 4: Add other things to the bubble juice to make it your own!

• Starting with the base mix that you like best, add things like food coloring or spices to change the look of the solution.
• Test out making your own bubble wands using pipe cleaners and sticks.
• Have fun seeing yourselves as scientists, adding a bit of this or a bit of that to your bubble juice and your bubble play.

Step 5: Share out!

Post photos and videos using #Tinkergarten and #BubbleJuice to celebrate and share all that you are discovering together. Then, keep investigating!