4M 00-03351 Bubble Science Owner Manual

To Parents: Please read through these
instructions before giving gudiance to
your children.
A. SAFETY MESSAGES
1. Read carefully through all these instructions before you start. Adult supervision
is always required.
2. This kit is intended for children aged over 5.
3. Always wash your hand after playing with bubbles. Avoid contact between bubble
mixture and your mouth or eyes.
4. Playing with bubble solution can be messy, so it is best to carry out all the
experiments outdoors. If you have to work indoors, cover surfaces with newspapers
before you start.
5. Use of scissors required. Adult supervision is required when using scissors.
B. CONTENTS
1 x plastic ring
1 x bubble tray
2 x giant bubble wand stoppers
1 x pyramid framed wand
1 x mouthpiece
2 x giant bubble wand sticks
1 x star wand
coloured yarn
1 x cube framed wand
1 x round wand
1 x bubble solution
2 x clip-on wand handles
2 x long straws
Remarks: Also required for some activities, but not included in this kit: plain paper,
sticky tape, scissors, poster paints, a jar or container, a container or measuring jug.
A bottle of bubble solution is included in this kit. However, you will need to mix extra
bubble solution to perform some of the tricks, such as making the mega bubble and
bubble film. Detergent and a few other household items are required from home to
make bubble solution (recipes are included in the instructions).
BUBBLE ACTIVITIES
Here are instructions for lots of great activities to enjoy with your bubble kit. You
do not have to do them in this order. Read the instructions for each activity before
you start.
Put 500ml water into a container. Add 50 ml of (1.5 fl.oz) standard dish-washing
detergent or 30 ml (1 fl.oz) of ultra dish-washing detergent to the container. Stir in
a tablespoon of baking powder.
C. MIX YOUR OWN BUBBLE SOLUTION
A bubble solution is included in this kit. However, you need to mix additional bubble
solution for some of the tricks below, such as the mega bubble, the bubble film,
and bubble geometry. You could buy bulk bubble solution from a toy store or follow
the recipes below to mix your own bubble solution. As a quick start, you can simply
dilute dish-washing detergent to make a basic solution. But if you want to make
large bubbles and bubble films, you will need to mix a better bubble solution.
Making your own bubble solution is fun. Here are two recipes which produce goodquality bubble solution. For both recipes you need a good-quality dish-washing
detergent. These have different names in different countries (e.g. Joy, Fairy, Ivory,
Morning Fresh and Fairy Dawn). They also often come in different strengths: standard
and ultra. Tap water is okay for making bubble solution, but distilled water is better
if you can get it. You will need a measuring jug and a spoon to prepare the mixture.
MIXTURE 1
Materials required: standard or ultra dish-washing detergent, sugar, glycerin
(available from your local pharmacy, this is optional), a container for mixing.
Put 200 ml (6.7 fl oz) of warm water into a measuring jug. Stir in a tablespoon of
sugar until the sugar has dissolved. Add 50 ml (1.5 fl.oz) of standard dish-washing
liquid or 30 ml (1 fl.oz) of ultra dish-washing detergent to the water. Stir in a
tablespoon of glycerin, if you have some. Finally, add 300ml (10 fl.oz) of water into
the mixture and stir well.
50ml dish-washing detergent
or 30ml ultra dish-washing
detergent
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2
Sugar
2
MIXTURE 2
Materials required: standard or ultra dish-washing detergent, baking powder and a
container for mixing.
Glycerin
(Optional)
3
50ml dish-washing detergent
or 30ml ultra dish-washing
detergent
2
1
3
baking soda
If you keep this home-made bubble solution undisturbed for 24 hours, you will find
it performs better.
What is a bubble?
A bubble is film (a thin layer) of
soapy water that contains air. The
skin is stretchy, which is why you
can blow up a bubble. As you blow,
the skin stretches. It’s similar to
how the skin of a balloon stretches
as you blow it up.
Why are bubbles coloured?
You can often see bands and swirls
of colour in a bubble. They happen
because light rays bounce off the
outside and inside walls of the bubble.
The rays combine or cancel each other
out to make rays of different colours.
Scientists call this effect interference.
The colours change as the bubble’s
skin gets thinner.
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D. BASIC BUBBLE FUN
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E. MAGIC PAPER WAND
Materials required from the kit: bubble tray, bubble
solution, star wand, round wand, clip-on wand handles.
Materials required from the kit: bubble tray, bubble
solution, mouthpiece, and long straw.
1. Pour some bubble solution into the small cavity of
the bubble tray.
Materials required from home: 2 x A4-sized sheets of
paper (e.g. photocopier or printer paper), sticky tape,
and scissors.
2. Clip wand handles onto the round and star wands.
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3. Dip a wand into the bubble solution, then lift it out
and shake off any excess solution.
4. Blow through the wand to make bubbles. Blow gently
to make a larger bubble, and blow a bit harder to make
a stream of smaller bubbles.
Can you make a star-shaped bubble with the starshaped wand? Why not?
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1. Place one paper sheet on top of the other and line
up their edges.
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2 x A4 paper
4cm
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2. Starting at one of the narrow sides of the paper,
roll the paper into a narrow cone. Roll one edge of the
paper very tightly and the other edge less tightly. You
should end up with a cone with one pointed end and
one end about 4 cm (1.6 inches) across.
3. To stop the cone unrolling, stick down the edge of
the paper about halfway along the cone.
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4. Carefully snip off the narrow end of the cone to leave
an opening about 1.5 cm (0.6 inches) across.
Why are bubbles round?
Single bubbles are always a round
shape (called a sphere). This is because
the skin of a bubble always tries to shrink
to the smallest surface area possible to
contain the air inside it. When you blow
a giant bubble, you can see that it slowly
turns from a wobbly shape into a sphere.
When two bubbles stick together, they
keep making smallest surface area,
which is why you see flat walls
between the bubbles.
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5. Carefully trim the wide end of the tube to leave a
neat circle. Trim away any rough edges.
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1.5cm wide
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6. Push the plastic mouthpiece onto the narrow end
of the tube, tightly enough that the tube stays in place
when you hold up the mouthpiece. That’s the paper
wand complete.
7. Pour some bubble solution into medium cavity of the
bubble tray. Now you’re ready to blow some bubbles
with the neat magic paper wand!
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5
BIG BUBBLES
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A BUNCH OF BUBBLES
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8. Dip the wide end of the paper wand into the bubble
solution, to a depth of about 1 cm (0.4 inches), leave it
there for a couple of seconds, and then lift it out.
13. Start as for the bubble chain above, but keep
adding bubbles with the straw around the bubble
from the paper wand.
9. Blow gently into the mouthpiece and watch a bubble
grow. Keep blowing gently to make the bubble bigger.
How many bubbles can you add to the bunch before
your bubbles burst?
What’s the biggest bubble you can blow?
You will notice that you blow bigger bubbles with this
paper wand. Why? The paper absorbs a large amount of
bubble solution which allows the bubble to grow bigger
than the plastic wands do.
BUBBLE CHAINS
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14. Using the paper wand, blow a bubble
about 15 cm (6 inches) across. Put your finger over
the mouthpiece to stop the air escaping from the
bubble.
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10. Using the paper wand, blow a bubble about 10 cm
(4 inches) across. Put you finger over the mouthpiece
to stop the air escaping from the bubble.
11. Dip the end of the long straw into the bubble
solution. Hold the end close to the bottom of the first
bubble and blow gently to grow a new bubble that
attaches to the first bubble and hangs below it.
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BUBBLE IN A BUBBLE
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15. Dip the end of the long straw into the bubble
solution. Slowly push the end of the straw through
the skin of the bubble. Blow gently into the straw to
make a new bubble inside the first bubble!
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Remarks: Eventually your paper wand may become
saturated and the paper may begin to fall apart. If
this happens, simply make a new wand from two
sheets of fresh paper.
12. Add more bubbles to the bottom of the chain.
What is the skin stretchy?
How many more bubbles can you add to the chain
before your bubbles burst?
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6
The stretchiness of water is caused
by an effect called surface tension. It
happens because the tiny particles (called
molecules) that water is made from cling
to each other. The pulls the molecules
at the surface of water inwards, making
the surface like a skin.
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F. BUBBLE FILM
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MAKING A BIG BUBBLE
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6. Make a bubble film
as in step 5 above, then
slowly pull the frame
through the air. The film
should stretch and form
a big bubble. When the
bubble has grown, pull the frame quickly to release it into the air.
Materials required from kit: bubble tray, 1 x long
straw, 50 cm (20 inches) of yarn. (Cut it from the yarn
supplied. Leave the rest for the next activity.)
yarn
Materials required from home: home made bubble
solution.
1. First you need to make a frame. Cut the long straw
into two equal halves.
MAKING SMALL BUBBLES
2. Thread one end of the yarn through the straw. Feed
the yarn through the other straw in the same way.
3. You should now have the two straws on the yarn.
Tie the two ends of the yarn together with an overhand
knot. Cut off any spare ends of yarn.
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4. Pour bubble solution into the large cavity of the
bubble tray.
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7. Make a bubble film as
in step 5 above, then blow
gently on the centre of the
film. You should get as
stream of small bubbles
without the film breaking.
BOUNCING BUBBLES
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Home made
bubble
solution
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8
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8. You can also make small bubbles by holding the straws a few millimetres apart,
dipping them into the bubble solution and blowing gently between them.
MAKING A FILM IN THE FRAME
5. Hold the frame by the straws (one in each hand)
and dip it into the bubble solution, make sure that the
yarn gets soaked with solution. Gently and slowly lift
the frame from the solution and pull the straws apart
to straighten the yarn and make a rectangle shape.
There should be a film of bubble solution in the frame.
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9
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9. You will need a helper
for this step. Make a
bubble film as in step 5
above. Ask your helper to
dip the round wand into
the bubble solution, and
then gently blow into wand to make a small bubble in the air.
10. Hold the bubble frame under the small bubble. Move the frame upwards as the
bubble floats down towards it. You should see the bubble bounce off the film. It’s
like a bubble trampoline!
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G. MEGA BUBBLE
6. Lift the wand out of the solution and move the sticks
apart. You should get a triangle of yarn with a film
of bubble solution inside it. Hold the two sticks, one
in each hand, with the yarn between them taut and
horizontal. The ring should pull the lower part of the
yarn down, so that the yarn forms a triangle. Make sure
the yarn is not twisted anywhere.
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Materials required from kit: bubble tray, 2 x giant
bubble wand sticks, 2 x giant bubble wand stoppers,
200 cm (78 inches) of yarn, 1 x plastic ring.
Materials required from home: home made bubble
solution.
1. First you need to make a large bubble wand. Start
by threading the yarn through the ring and tie the ends
together with an overhand knot.
7. Pull the giant bubble wand through the air by slowly
walking backwards. The wand should leave a monster
bubble behind it. Pull the wand quickly to detach the
bubble from the wand.
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2. Thread a loop of yarn down through the eye in one
of the bubble wand stoppers. Bring the loop over the
top of the stopper and pull the yarn tight so that it
becomes attached to the eye.
3. Attach the other stopper to the yarn in the same
way, leaving about 50 cm ( 20 inches) of yarn between
the two stoppers.
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3
50cm
4. Push the two bubble wand sticks into the stoppers.
5. Pour bubble solution into large cavity of the bubble
tray. Lower the giant bubble wand into the bubble
solution, making sure all the yarn gets soaked in
solution.
WIND DIRECTION
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5
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H. BUBBLE GEOMETRY
1
Materials required from kit: bubble tray, cube framed
wand, pyramid framed wand, long straw.
Materials required from home: an empty jar with a lid
(or a glass and a plate).
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2. Holding the cube by its edges and place it into the
solution so that one face is submerged in solution. Roll
the cube onto another face. The first face should now
have a film of solution over it.
3. Keep rolling until each face has a film of solution.
Lift the cube out of the solution. What happens to the
films of solution? Amazingly, you should see films of
solution leading into the centre of the cube, where
there will be a small film.
1. Clip the round wand onto one end of the longer of
the two wand handles, then clip the star wand onto the
other end. This will be the stand for your bubble.
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2. Pour a little bubble solution into the jar, put the lid
on, and then shake the jar. This will coat the inside of
the jar with bubble solution.
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4. Dip the end of the straw into the solution. Push the
end into the film at the centre of the cube and blow
gently. With luck, you’ll make a cube-shaped bubble at
the centre of the cube!
5. Repeat the activity with the pyramid. This time try
to make a pyramid-shaped bubble in the centre of the
shape.
1
Materials required from kit: bubble tray, bubble
solution, long straw, round wand, star wand, wand
handle.
Materials required from home: home made bubble
solution.
1. Pour bubble solution into the large cavity of the
bubble tray.
I. UNBREAKABLE BUBBLE
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3. Wet both ends of the stand, then place it in the jar,
with the star at the bottom, so that the circle wand is
not touching the sides of the jar.
4. Dip the end of the long straw into bubble solution
and carefully blow a bubble onto the round wand. The
bubble should be about 5 cm (2 inches) across and not
touching the sides of the jar.
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5. Put the lid on the jar quickly.
Check your bubble every few minutes. How long did it
last? It might last for more than an hour. Why? Because
the air inside the jar is moist, which means the bubble
does not evaporate and burst.
Why do bubbles burst?
Sadly, bubbles don’t last forever! They
burst because the water they are made
from slowly evaporates. The water turns
to water vapour and mixes with the air.
As the water evaporates, the skin gets
thinner and thinner, until it breaks. In
dry, warm weather, evaporation is
quicker, so bubbles
don’t last long.
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5
5
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J. BUBBLE SCULPTURE
1
Materials required from kit: bubble tray, bubble
solution, long straw.
Materials required from home: food coloring, small
plastic pots, old spoon, and clean white paper.
1cm
2
4. Try blowing a bubble in a bubble. Start with a large
dome about 10 cm (4 inches) across. Carefully push
the straw though it and blow another dome inside it.
Are your bubble-blowing skills good enough to add a
third dome inside the second?
You can use a dry finger to burst any bubble you no
longer want.
1. Pour bubble solution into a small plastic pot until
the solution is about 1 cm deep.
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Food colouring
2. Add two tablespoons of food coloring (choose your
favourite colour) to the bubble solution and mix it in.
3. Push the long straw into the mixture and blow
quickly until bubbles rise out of the pot.
3. Now add some other bubbles around the first one to
make a bubble sculpture.
Can you make a bubble bug (one large bubble for the
body and one small one for the head)? What about a
flower (one central bubble and six petals around it)?
1
Materials required from kit: long straw, bubble solution.
1. Pour bubble solution into the bubble tray until the
bottom of the tray is covered with solution.
2. Dip the end of the long straw just into the solution
and blow gently. You should be able to blow a domeshaped bubble about 10 cm (4 inches) across. Keep
the straw off the bottom of the tray, or you will blow lots
of small bubbles.
K. BUBBLE ART
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4. Carefully lower a sheet of paper onto the bubbles.
Be careful not to let the paper touch the pot. Lift the
paper off again.
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5. You should be left with a beautiful bubble print on
the paper. Let it dry.
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By using different colours of bubbly paint in separate
pots, you can put one set of bubble prints over another
to make amazing patterns.
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PAPER
Try making greetings cards, party invitation and thank
you notes with bubble art. To make a card, fold a piece
of white card in half, then make bubble prints on the
front.
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L. TROUBLESHOOTING
If your bubbles burst quickly, or you are having problems making a film of bubble
solution in the various wands in the kit:
• Clean your wands thoroughly with soap water.
• The problem may be the weather. When it is very dry, the water in a bubble will
evaporate very quickly, making the bubble burst. Wait until the weather is wetter,
with drizzly rain or fog.
• Bubble making will also be tricky on windy days. Try blowing your bubbles at
somewhere sheltered from the wind e.g. a semi covered playground.
• If you are using your own bubble solution, check that you have made it according
to the instructions.
M. FUN FACTS
• The skin of a bubble is less than a thousandth of a millimetre thick. That means
you would need to put the skins of a thousand bubbles together to make a layer a
millimetre thick.
• You can tell when a bubble is about to burst because the colours of its skin
disappear. That means its skin has got extremely thin and it’s about the break.
• The world record longest-lasting bubble didn’t burst for 341 days — nearly a year!
• The world’s biggest bubble was blown in 2005. Its volume was 3 cubic metres. It
could have contained 3 tonnes of water!
• The walls of joined-up bubbles always meet at an angle of 120º.
41-03351/1 151211
QUESTIONS & COMMENTS
We treasure you as a customer and your satisfaction with this product is important
to us. In case you have any comments or questions, or you find any parts of
this kit missing or defective, please do not hesitate to contact our distributor in
your country, whose address is printed on the package. You are also welcome to
contact our marketing support team at Email: [email protected], Fax (852)
25911566, Tel (852) 28936241, Web site: WWW.4M-IND.COM
©2011 4M Industrial Development Limited. All rights reserved.
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