I do not love winter. Every winter my Instagram feed is filled with inspirational “Have fun in the cold! You only get so many snow days with your kids!” posts, and while I dutifully take my kids skating, sledding, and snowshoeing, I do so grudgingly. My favourite winter was the year my oldest was born because I had the best excuse to stay home and snuggle with my newborn all winter long.
So while I dream of warmer weather to come, I’ll keep looking for ways to enjoy winter so that my kids’ memories of winter don’t include my grumpy, frozen face. This week, I found out about Crazy Ice Bubbles, which made for an awesome distraction during the coldest day of the year! The bubble solution makes “extra strong” bubbles that rest gently on the snow and slowly freeze over. We have tried to make our own winter bubbles before using regular bubble solution or dish soap, and these yielded much better results!
If you blow them directly onto the snow, they’ll stick and slowly crystalize; if you blow them in the air they’ll start to freeze over in the air (my kids had fun seeing who could catch or pop the most before they fully froze). The bottle says they are most effective below -7 C (plenty of those days ahead in the forecast), and it’s helpful to play with these on a day without much wind or in a sheltered area. A word of caution though- the bottles get very messy, very quickly! (or maybe it’s just my kids… but I had to grab a towel for wiping hands and bubble bottles before I let anyone back in the house!) My kids played with these for over an hour, and even I had fun being out in the cold trying them out!
You can find these locally at Tag Along Toys on Bank Street (This post is not sponsored, just an honest review, and a reminder to shop local whenever you can!)
Oh, and for parents looking for learning extension activities (we homeschool so I’m always in teaching mode), we talked about surface tension (cue a sing along of Surface Pressure from Encanto) and why bubbles pop. We also bounced bubbles on cotton gloves to avoid natural oils that can pop bubbles- check out this video for some fun experiments! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=--tem7JnVNI
Julia is a health educator and homeschooling Mama to three kids, and can usually be found on hiking trails or camping in the deep dark woods.