Bubbles

 Have you ever seen a bubble cup?  I have been around the toddler and pre-school sect for quite a few years now and have never heard of this.  It made me wonder, why don't we do this in the States?  Maybe we do and I've just been missing out, but if not, attention pre-school teachers: This is loads of fun!

One day D and all his classmates walked out of their classroom with plastic cups and straws and while M begged for a "taste" D was blowing away, making bubble clusters go everywhere.  I was amazed.  I'd never seen anything like it.  A teaching assistant told me it's easy to make.  It's just water and dish detergent in a cup and kids blow with a straw.  I don't remember the exact proportions she told me, but we've been successful at home with a cup half full of water and several large drops of detergent.  When it starts to wear down, we just add a few more drops of detergent.

The kids love how the bubbles bulge out of the cup, and eventually (especially on windy days) clusters blow away causing a whole other type of fun. 

While we use plain old clear dish detergent at our house, the pots at school with yellow or blue detergent have resulted in colorful bubbles as well.  This is definitely one I'll be keeping in my kiddie-play-bank.  I was nervous the first time I let H try, but she did fine and (as far as I know) has never ingested any soapy water.

The best thing about it is if the child drops the cup, we don't need any tears.  It's easy to make a refill.