Bubble Birthday Party

Bubble Birthday Party

My son wanted to have a Frozen birthday party, like we'd recently done for his sister.  Since everyone was getting over the Frozen craze at the time, I thought maybe something else would be appreciated by the guests.  It turns out that he really just wanted to have it "snow" like it did at her party.  I suggested a bubble party, complete with bubble machine.  Yes!

First, we ordered a bunch of clear beach balls so they'd look like large bubbles in the grass.  I got 10 that were 16", 5 that were 12" and 4 that were 6" balls from beachballs.com ($1.28-$1.88 each).  I wanted to have a variety to look interesting and also let guests take them home balls for party favors.  This was the most beach ball for the best shipping price combination.

Look closely to see the clear beach ball bubbles on the grass.

We had lots of opportunities for bubbles at the party.  I made my own bubble mix out of distilled water, dawn dish soap, and glycerin (ordered through Amazon for about $15) so we would have plenty to use at the birthday.  I made 6 gallons.  That was excessive.  We maybe used 3 gallons.  But the bubbles work best if they sit for at least 24 hours so I didn't want to end up trying to mix some on the fly.  Having some left over bubbles isn't the worst thing ever and it was basically free after I bought the glycerin.

Then I got a Gazillions Bubble Machine and used it to make a gazillion bubbles.  (My own bubble mix and it worked fine in the machine, but not quite as well.  It was more like dozens of bubbles than a gazillion.  We used the name brand stuff in the machine at the party.  At least until we ran out.)

Of course we used the ol' snow machine to make it snow (like at the Frozen birthday party) because when you know someone with a snow machine, why not?  Besides, this snow is really just bubbles which the birthday boy was quick to point out.  That was a fun addition.

We had a station for making bubble wands using string, straws, and/or pipe cleaners.  We made some examples in advance so the kids could mimic them.  They weren't very interested in making their own, but they liked playing with the examples that were available.  Some adults were intrigued by the geometric figures I'd prepped in advance and wanted to make their own.

We also tried to put people into big bubbles.  I filled a tub with a couple of inches of bubble mix (this is the primary reason I wanted to make my own-- that adds up fast!), got a small hula hoop for $1 at the Dollar Tree (lucky find!) and then put a large bucket in the middle for people to stand in.  I was originally planning on doing a bigger hula hoop that we already had and buying a baby pool, but in addition to the cost of the pool, it would take a lot of bubble mix to fill it enough.  Since the kids are pretty small, I decided that the metal drink bin we already had would be sufficient.   The plastic bucket in the middle prevented wet feet and also meant I needed less bubble mix.  Of course, it's not actually putting them inside a bubble.  It's more like a bubble cylinder, but it was still exciting.  It was really hard to get the bubbles to work on the day of the party (but it worked in tests!) so perhaps I didn't have the right mix or it was too hot or humid.  I maybe should have gone heavier with the glycerin or dawn soap.  The kids still had fun trying though.

The cake was a grocery store cake that my son declared he wanted to have Dusty from Planes on.    Since the store didn't have that, I asked them to just put some clouds and we'd add the plastic plane.  Unfortunately, I couldn't find one!  I finally found a small lego set that is a similar design and color so we used that.  It didn't quite match our bubble theme, but it worked for the birthday boy.  It also solved the problem of him constantly wanting to change the theme.  After we'd started all the bubble prep, I didn't want to abandon for a new theme, but I told him he could change whatever he wanted on his cake until it was ordered.  He was ultimately happy with his cake.

The biggest hit of the party were the pool noodle bubble tubes.  I didn't know if the kids would like this at all, but they loved it.  The party could have been foam tubes and cake and they'd have been content.  Just rubber band a piece of cloth to a segment of pool noodle.  (One pool noodle was cut into 8 pieces.)  Kids dip the cloth into a tray of bubble mix and then blow LOTS of tiny bubbles.  It's like foam.  They loved it.  Pro Tip: Tell the kids to take the tube away from their mouths before inhaling to blow in it again or they will wind up with a mouthful of soap.  Maybe not dangerous, but unpleasant.

One of our test designs.  We cut the hand towel into quarters for the final design.

Foam bubbles that are fun to blow away.

Another big hit at the party was a gift that was opened during the party.  Foam stomp rocket.  The kids thought it looked neat and the last portion of the party was them taking turns stomping on it and chasing the foam rockets around the yard.

Party dad retrieving a rocket from the plants.  You can also see the large beach ball "bubbles" in the yard.

Our party favors were the clear beach balls, bubble tubes, and large bubble wands.  The kids used the tubes during the party and then took them home.  They LOVED having a couple of beach balls to take home.  The large bubble wands were a big hit, too.  Can't have too many bubbles, right?

The bubble tubes arranged around a rainbow of bubble wands.  These were party favors along with clear beach ball "bubbles."

I also must mention the adorable baby (my nephew) who was put in a bin (dry!) with several of the beach ball bubbles and we blew more bubbles around him.  I thought it would be an amazing photo op.  Unfortunately, he didn't agree and this was the best pic we got.  Might be a cute idea for other kids, though!