This brilliant frozen bubble hack is peak-winter entertainment
Keeping kids entertained on snow days just got a lot more interesting—and we’re not just talking about mixing up ice cream in freezing temperatures. Some families are using the icy weather as an opportunity to conduct science experiments. One especially mesmerizing activity? Freezing bubbles with your kids to demonstrate how ice crystals form in the winter. (Yes, it’s just as enchanting as it sounds.)
Inspired by a TikTok video from @KiwiCo_inc, parents are combining simple household ingredients to create a solution that freezes right before your eyes. Set against the backdrop of a rising sun, the viral TikTok video—prompted by the viral 2022 trend—showcases the beauty of this moment in action. As the frozen bubble form, hundreds of tiny ice crystals simultaneously spread and freeze across the surface.
“It works so well! just posted a video of mine! current temp 1 degree,” one person wrote in the comments section. “It’s sooo cold in Minnesota this weekend – can’t wait to try this with my kiddos!!” another commenter wrote.
@kiwico_inc If youve got snow outside you have to try this frozen bubble experiment
♬ Snowy Morning – FREDERIC BOUCHALit’s like magic! #kidsactivities #scienceforkids #kiwico #winter #scienceexperiments
The magical moment isn’t a one-off phenomenon. Recreating the frozen bubble experiment is just as easy as stirring up bubble solution with your kids for backyard barbecues or park days—as long as you get the mixture just right. But once you do, the final creation is cooler than any snow globe.
Creating the perfect frozen bubble
As any child with a bubble wand and a boatload of enthusiasm will tell you, bubbles pop—often. To ensure you and your little ones get to see this natural phenomenon in action, it’s important to follow the tried-and-true recipe for the frozen bubble solution.
From start to finish, the bubble freezing process is kid-friendly. In a small container, stir together a cup of warm water, 2 ½ tablespoons of corn syrup, 2 tablespoons of sugar, and 2 ½ tablespoons of dish soap.
If you don’t have corn syrup stocked in your pantry, don’t worry. KiwiCo’s recipe recommends including the corn syrup to help the surface of the bubble stay intact longer, but several commenters say you can skip it altogether. Others suggest replacing the syrup with equal parts glycerin or slightly more soap or sugar. Depending on the exact climate in your area, you may have to play around with the measurements to create a solution that’s just right.
Once the bubbles form, the crystals should create beautiful, feather-like patterns.
Note: Parents in the comments section don’t recommend using store-bought bubble mix for this experiment. Bubbles blown with the soapy solution are usually too thin and fragile to withstand the cold, which means no ice crystals. For the best results, start with the base recipe and adjust the measurements as needed.
For younger children, the mixing process may be easier if you pre-measure the ingredients. The final solution should be thin and slightly foamy. Before stepping outside, you and your little ones can also practice blowing bubbles indoors to make sure they’re ready to test.
Finding the perfect bubble-blowing temperature
This is where it gets tricky. While you don’t need to have any actual snow on the ground for this experiment to work, the temperature outside should ideally be below 20º F. That may mean keeping babies indoors and making sure any children outside are safely bundled up.
Why below 20ºF? Water freezes at 32°F, but soap bubbles require colder temperatures to freeze quickly before they pop. At or below 20°F, the bubble’s thin surface cools at a speed that allows ice crystals to form. Any colder and the bubbles might freeze too quickly for you to see the crystals. Any warmer and the bubbles might become wobbly and pop before they have a chance to freeze.
In cases like this, adding a little more corn syrup or glycerin might help. An extra teaspoon could make a big difference, so make sure to add any extra ingredients gradually. Involving your kids in this process is also a good way to test a few fun hypotheses. “Does an extra teaspoon of sugar make the bubbles easier to blow?” “What happens to the size of the bubbles if we add more soap?”
To watch the bubbles freeze from the bottom up, it’s important that they land in the snow or on a surface as cold as the air around it. This allows the bubble to solidify from the bottom up. Once the bubbles form, the crystals should create beautiful, feather-like patterns.
Encouraging curiosity through hands-on exploration
As beautiful as the frozen bubble experiment is, it’s also a great hands-on learning opportunity for kids that encourages curiosity and critical thinking. According to a 2025 study conducted on secondary school students, even simple experiments can have a notable impact on children’s thinking patterns in a short amount of time. “The results outlined the positive impact of STEM-based education on improving students’ creativity and CT skills,” the study reads. “This suggested that integrating STEM methods fostered essential skills required for problem-solving and innovation in educational settings.”
By conducting simple experiments—like freezing bubbles, making slime, or building a classic baking-soda-and-vinegar volcano—we encourage observation and experimentation. This kind of active exploration lets kids engage with the world around them by asking questions like “Why?” “How?” and “What if?”
Once you’ve conducted your initial frozen bubble experiment, there are myriad ways to expand on it. KiwiCo recommends using cookie cutters in place of bubble wands or straws to create shapes that freeze in place. Parents on TikTok also suggest using kitchen supplies like a slotted spoon or spatulas, or creating your own shapes using craft materials like pipe cleaners.
In between dipping the shapes in the soapy water and watching the crystals form, you can also open up a conversation about the frozen bubbles. You might ask your children, “Why do you think the bubble froze so quickly?” or “What do you think will happen if we blow a bigger bubble?” You can even try blowing bubbles on different days of the week to test different temperatures, or experiment with how long it takes bubbles to crystallize or pop under certain conditions
As simple as it may seem, blowing bubbles in the snow is a fun way to foster cognitive, social, and emotional skills in kids that last a lifetime.
source https://www.mother.ly/kids/frozen-bubbles-tiktok-experiment/
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