Web Wise: Blowing Bubbles

By Troy Corley

Bubbles are blowing all over the Web. March 20-26 is National Bubble Blowing Week, so pucker up and get in gear for a spring and summer full of bubblicious fun.

Get the bubbles going with your own mixture made from water, dish soap and glycerin or clear corn syrup. For variations and specific ingredient measurements, surf on over to kidsturncentral.com and betterbudgeting.com.

You don't need tiny prefabricated plastic wands to make great bubbles. You'll find tips for using everything from plastic strawberry baskets to twigs at www.creativekidsathome.com . At Bubbletown, you'll find instructions on how to make the incredible paper bubble tube as well as plenty of bubble-blowing techniques. Become an expert bubbleologist with more tips recommended by kids party enthusiast Patricia Jensen at Ezinearticles.com .

If the kids ask how bubbles become bubbles, send them to Professor Bubbles at www.bubbles.org . Older kids may want to explore the science of bubbles at www.exploratorium.edu/ronh/bubbles/bubbles.htm . To view a scientific demonstration of bouncing bubbles, click on www.scienceworld.bc.ca/  and type "bubbles" in the search engine.

Surprise your kids even further with the world's largest bubble at worldslargestbubble.com . Read about how a 20-year-old attained this Guinness Book of World Record feat at kidsturncentral.com . If creating a bubble large enough to hold 13,627 baseballs seems too daunting, find fun and easy bubble magic at the Art & Science of Bubbles Web page, where you can impress the kids with a square bubble and a pop-proof bubble.

Follow up on the art of bubbles with directions for making colored bubbles at kinderart.com  and creating a bubble print here .

Happy bubble blowing!