Good clean fun?

Shakespeare (well, a slightly misquoted Bard) sure had that one right! Bubbles – if they’re to be eco-friendly and non-toxic are a bit of toil and trouble.
But if, like me, you have kids who love blowing bubbles, it’s worth the effort.
Why not just stick with the dollar-store bubbles? Or, if you’re flush with cash, the super-deluxe toy store bubbles that offer up gasp-inducing rainbow spheres?
Well…the problem is that, like most sudsy stuff we find on the shelves, it’s chock full of chemicals we don’t really want our kids messing with.
Such as… parabens, those ubiquitous hormone-messing chemicals you’ll find in a ton of personal care products and, apparently, kids’ bubble mix.
What’s more, dish soap (and what are bubbles except glorified dish soap) is the leading cause of poisonings in kids under the age of six in the United States. Most dish soaps contain formaldehyde and ammonia, two chemicals that are best left uningested. And yes, I know that your child is far too clever to drink bubble solution…but if it’s something we don’t want in our children’s bodies, it’s likely something we also don’t want on our grass, or in our groundwater, or in our soil. Or on our kids’ fingers, the same fingers they’ll be sticking in their mouths momentarily.
Lucky for us bubble aficionados, it’s easy to create greener bubbles.
I offer up this simple recipe, widely available on the Web…and home-tested by me:
½ cup eco-friendly dish detergent (cut that amount in half if you use a concentrated formula)
5 cups of soft water of distilled water (distilled water can generally be found at grocery stores or drug stores…for a whole lot cheaper than a bottle of bubbles)
2 tsp light corn syrup (beware that corn syrup can attract wasps. You can substitute 2 tsp of vegetable glycerin…but I can’t vouch for that recipe)

Consider making bubble blowers from old wire hangers twisted into a big circle for super-sized bubbles. Or get creative and make your own from items you find around the house. Then…share them here.