=Blowing Soap-bubbles.= Secure a lot of clean clay pipes, and to make
your bubble solution, take a preserve-jar and fill two-thirds full
of boiling water, add three ounces of finely shaven Castile soap, a
teaspoonful of sugar and four tablespoonfuls of glycerine, shake this
mixture thoroughly and then strain it through a piece of white cloth.
Your solution is now ready for use. Strawberry or cranberry juice will
make pink bubbles, and orange juice will make yellow ones. Any color
may be obtained by the use of aniline dyes. It is better to let the
solution stand two or three hours before using. Cover the dining-room
table with a soft woolen cover, place as many finger-bowls around as
guests, or one large bowl, and fill with the thick soapy water. Have
ready a good-sized wicket, made by bending a wire and putting each end
into a bottle, so it will stand firmly. Place it in the centre of the
table and request the guests to choose sides. Present each boy with a
clay pipe and each girl with a fan, to which is attached a tally card.
Arrange the boys and girls on opposite sides of the table. The boy
nearest the head of the table takes the bowl and with his pipe blows
a bubble. His partner, or the girl opposite him, fans it, endeavoring
to make it go through and pass the arch without breaking. If it passes
successfully, a gold star is placed on the tally; if it breaks before
reaching the arch, a green star denotes the player’s failure. Each
boy may blow the number of bubbles agreed upon. After receiving their
stars, the boy and girl pass to the foot of the table, and the next boy
and girl move up and try their skill at blowing bubbles. The game is
ended in six rounds.
=Fantastic Soap-bubbles.= Ordinary soap-bubbles are blown with a pipe,
a straw, or small horn of some sort. If a straw is used, split one end
into quarters, about one half-inch long, and bend the parts back at
right angles to the straw. The horn should be larger at one end, but,
if you wish to obtain bubbles, as large as your head, you must have
recourse to objects of quite different nature. Place around the body of
a bottle a piece of common wire, and twist the ends together in order
to form a handle for the ring which is thus obtained. Steep this ring
in the soapy water. Take it out carefully, and you will perceive that
the ring is furnished, on the inside, with a thin covering or skin of
soapy water. Now hold the ring vertically before your mouth and blow
gently but continuously at the centre of the soapy covering. Fashion
two rings with handles out of plain wire. The ring can be about six
inches in diameter. Cover one of the rings with felt. With this ring
and with practice, you can send the bubbles away up into the air, and
keep a half-dozen floating at one time. Then blow a big bubble, holding
the empty ring with a handle in the left hand, and under the pipe. When
the bubble grows large, it will stick to the ring. Now, carefully take
out the pipe, dip into the soapy water and put the bowl of the pipe up
inside of the ring into the big bubble, and blow a small one inside.
Then, with a swing and a side movement, liberate both bubbles into the
air. It may take a few failures to make a success of it. With two felt
rings, “battledore and shuttlecock” can be successfully played with
soap-bubbles. Take a clay pipe, fill up with cotton wadding loosely
and keep in place at mouth of bowl by a wire screen. Wet cotton with
gasoline. Let the bubbles float in air and light them with candle,
and they will explode with a big flame. Smoke-bubbles may be made by
blowing in smoke after the bubble has been well started.
=Rebounding Bubbles.= A good game is to have a small sheet held by a
number of children and blow the bubbles upon this, then they can be
sent flying by drawing the sheet taut. Many ways may be devised to make
blowing soap-bubbles attractive.