Last Updated on October 22, 2021 by admin
Ah, bubbles. Simple, classic, and endlessly entertaining for the youngest children.
And yet, bubble blowing is somehow also almost always fraught with frustration when you’re doing it with toddlers.
Here’s what comes to mind: Your 2-year-old asking incessantly to hold the bubbles and hold the bubble wand, your mental jiu jitsu trying to keep it away from them because you know they’ll spill it, and their increasing insistence that they can handle it.
Eventually, if you’re like me, you decide that a $1 bottle of bubbles isn’t exactly worth all the drama. You let them hold the bubbles, at which point it immediately gets dropped and dumped out. Then you get to enjoy the sticky film that gets smeared all over their hands and face and inevitably collects a nice film of dirt before all is said and done.
One solution to this problem is the product “Fubbles,” which promises to be un-spillable. (I haven’t tried it, but the Amazon reviews seem legit.)
Another solution, and the one we’re about to discuss, is to invest in a bubble machine. Bubble machines theoretically eliminate the entire argument over who gets to hold the wand. Bubble machines also save you from getting one of those bubble-blowing-induced headaches.
Most importantly, though, bubble machines produce way more bubbles than any adult human could. The effect of all those bubbles is extremely exciting to kids. (Heck, they’re fun for adults, too! There’s a reason there are bubble machines at wedding reception venues and clubs).
Of course, your kids may still try to investigate these machines up close. There’s technically nothing stopping them from tipping them over. But overall, they’ll be too darn excited about the waves of bubbles to worry too much about where they’re coming from (at least at first).
I never thought of getting my kids a bubble machine until I encountered one at a friend’s kid’s birthday party. All the kids (including my 2-year-old and my friend’s 2-year-old) went crazy for the results.
The bubble machine is more of a short-lived thrill compared to classic toys like wooden blocks — you could probably take it out once a week or so in the temperate months and enjoy about half an hour of kid’s running around. But I still think for the price and at such a small size, it’s a no-brainer gift.
Most of the highly-reviewed bubble machines that I saw on Amazon cost between $20 and $30. Distinguishing factors from one machine to the next (besides the whimsical themes and aesthetic) include how many batteries they require and whether they can be plugged into an electric power source.
Some have bells and whistles like music, lights, oscillation, and even remote controls. I liked this rocket-themed bubble machine comes with little bubble refill packets to save on plastic waste.
