THE DOUBLE BUBBLE

To make one bubble inside of another, blow a large bubble, carefully insert a straw through its skin, and blow a smaller bubble. Another way to get the same effect is to blow a small bubble, surround it with a big bubble wand and scoop it up (as if the bubble were a fish and the wand were a net).

THE ZUBROWSKI WAND

This bubble wand is named after its inventor, Bernie Zubrowski, who developed it at The Children's Museum in Boston. Thread a length of string (about 3 feet long) through two drinking straws and tie the ends into a knot. Pull the knot into one straw. Hold the straws apart, creating two sides of a rectangle, and dip the two string sides into bubble solution. Swish the frame through the air to make a long bubble.

CLOTHES-HANGER WAND

We've got nothing against the puny wands that come with bubble soap. But to make some Hindenberg-size bubbles--the kind that lumber through the air like monster-movie blobs and make kids squeal with glee--you need a little more hardware. More precisely, you need this clothes-hanger wand, which is durable, dependable and made from household junk.

MATERIALS

Wire clothes hanger
Pliers
Electrical or duct tape
Cotton twine (optional)

Bend the hanger into a circle, making sure that the loop fits neatly into your bowl of soap. With pliers, twist the remaining wire into a handle and wrap with tape. The megawand is now ready for action, but for even larger bubbles, tightly wrap the hoop with cotton twine, which acts as a soap-holding wick.