Everyone loves bubbles! Here’s a fun outdoor experiment idea: make your own rainbow bubble snakes using items from around your home. When you’re looking for science experiments for kids these holidays, this simple activity is easy to do and children of all ages can join in. Why not set up a family challenge to see who can make the longest, most colourful, or most original colour combination STEM rainbow bubble snake? Your family will enjoy this summer STEM experiment as you learn all about bubble science. The rainbow effect on the bubbles will look amazing on a sunny day.
Pro tips: It’s better to make your bubble mixture the day before because this gives the chemicals time to bond and make a stronger bubble mix. The food colouring in this experiment makes it messy so head outdoors. We used blue and yellow food colouring to make green, but you can experiment with as many colours as you like.
PS. Download your free Bubble Activity Sheet for more bubble learning fun.
You’ll need:
- An empty, clean plastic water bottle
- An old sock (An ideal opportunity to use up mismatched socks!)
- Elastic band
- A small shallow bowl or plate
- Liquid food colouring
- Scissors or a craft knife
- 250ml distilled water
- 2-3 tbsp washing up liquid
- Glycerine or corn syrup (optional)
Prepare the bubble mix:
Pour 2-3 tablespoons of washing up liquid into the bowl or plate. Here’s the secret to super bubbles – adding glycerine or corn syrup makes the bubble mixture thicker and helps them last longer.
Pour about 250ml of water into the bowl. Distilled water is better as it doesn’t have high levels of minerals such as calcium, or iron. Stir well and allow the solution to sit for up to 24 hours before use.
Make the bubble snake maker:
Use a pair of scissors or a craft knife (and adult supervision!) to carefully cut the bottom off the plastic bottle. Grown-ups, you’ll need to do the cutting if you have a younger child.
Stretch the sock over the bottle and secure using an elastic band.
Add a few drops of your favourite food colouring to the sock at the open end of the bottle.
Dip the sock-covered end into the bubble solution.
Blow into the mouth of the plastic bottle and watch the colourful bubble snake emerge! The more you blow, the longer the snake becomes.
Pro tip: Remember to only blow out through the plastic bottle. Never breathe in or you might end up with a mouthful of soap. Yuk!
For more STEM learning fun, put different dimension bottles to the test and see if it affects the snake length or duration of the bubbles.
For more summer outdoor fun, head to our Summer Camp where you’ll find more ideas and activities to get kids excited about heading outdoors to play and learn. Find printable colouring pages, summer camp activities, outdoor games for kids and more!
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