You’ve practiced dropping dry ice into a cylinder. You’ve carbonated apple juice. You’ve made your caldron boil over with smoke-filled bubbles. You are a Halloween dry ice pro.

It’s time to step up your game.

Boo Bubbles

You will be the hit of your Halloween party if you make smoke-filled bubbles that bounce in the kids’ hands.

The Steve Spangler Science version of the Dry Ice Cloud Generator is constructed out of a gallon size plastic jar with a 3 foot long piece of rubber tubing attached to the side. The goal is to attach the tubing to the top part of the jar so that the fog created by mixing dry ice and water blows out of the tube when you twist on the lid. The free end of the rubber tubing is attached to a small funnel or something similar to help blow bubbles when it’s dipped into a soapy water solution. The best advice is to start with the plastic jar and spend some time walking through the plumbing aisles of your local hardware store.

You’ll need some thick gloves to handle the dry ice. The knit gloves used later in the activity do not give enough protection to your hands.

Before you set up your Dry Ice Generator, prepare your bubble solution. In a small cup or bowl, make a soapy solution with one squirt (that’s a technical term!) of liquid soap with about 4 ounces of water. Set aside.

Fill the jar half full with warm to hot water. Dry ice produces the best fog when you use warm water. Attach the rubber hose to the side of the jar (if it’s not already attached).

Drop a few good size pieces of dry ice into the jar. Immediately the fog will roll out of the jar. Practice covering the top of the jar with the lid to control the flow of fog out of the tube. You don’t have to screw the lid onto the jar – just hold it on top of the jar to force or more less fog through the rubber tubing.

Touchable Boo Bubbles

Dip the free end of the rubber tubing into the bubble solution to wet the end of the tube. Remove the tube from the bubble solution with one hand while covering the jar with the lid in the other hand. This will take a little practice, but it’s easy once you get the hang of it. The goal is to blow a bubble filled with fog. When the bubble reaches the perfect size, gently shake it off of the tubing and it will quickly fall to the ground (it’s heavier than a normal bubble because the bubble is filled with carbon dioxide gas and water vapor). When the bubble hits the ground, it bursts and the cloud of fog erupts from the bubble.

Purchase a pair of inexpensive children’s gloves from your local department store (100% cotton gloves also work well). Blow a bubble about the size of a baseball. – Bounce the bubble off of your gloves. Try bouncing the bubble off of your shirt or pants. As you’ll soon see, some fabrics work better than others. Try bouncing bubbles on a hand towel.

For more information on how to make Boo Bubbles, watch this video.

Dry Ice Crystal Ball

For your Halloween science dry ice extravaganza finale, you have to make a Crystal Ball Bubble. Create a soap film on the rim of a bucket. As the bubble expands, it fills with water vapor and carbon dioxide. When the giant bubble bursts, the cloud of “smoke” falls to the floor. This, like the Boo Bubbles, will take some practice to perfect.

Select a bucket or container that has a smooth rim and is smaller than 12 inches in diameter. Cut a strip of cloth about 1 inch wide and 18 inches long. An old t-shirt, strip of cloth or a fat shoelace works well.

Soak the cloth in a solution of Dawn dish soap or use your favorite recipe for making bubble solution. Make sure that the cloth is completely soaked. Fill the bucket half full with water. Have tongs or gloves ready to transfer the dry ice to the bucket.

Place two or three pieces of dry ice into the water so that a good amount of fog is being produced. Remove the strip of cloth from the dish soap and carefully pull the strip across the rim. The goal is to create a soap film that covers the top.

It also helps to have the rim wet before you start. This may take some practice until you get the technique mastered. Remember that a bubble’s worst enemies are dirt, oil, and rough edges. Your patience will pay off in the long run.

If you accidentally get soap in the bucket of water, you’ll notice that zillions of bubbles filled with fog will start to emerge from the bucket. This, too, produces a great effect. If you want to go back to making Crystal Ball Bubbles, you will need to dump the water, clean the bowl and start over.

Place a waterproof flashlight in the bucket along with the dry ice so that the light shines up through the fog. Draw the cloth across the rim to create the soap film lid and turn off the room lights. The crystal bubbles will emit an eerie glow and you’ll be able to see the fog churning inside the transparent bubble walls. Take your bows as the audience erupts in a chorus of ooohs & ahhhs!

For more information and to watch a how to video, check out the Steve Spangler Science website.

Guest blogger Susan Wells is the mom to two girls, ages 4 and 8. She enjoys enriching her daughter’s education by finding the learning in everything. They especially enjoy science activities. She works as a blogger and social media strategist for Steve Spangler Science, a Colorado company dedicated to helping teachers and parents get children excited about science.

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