On a walk today, we saw some dandelions near the sidewalk. We picked a few because they were just what we needed for making dandelion bubbles.
Recently, we saw this video on a FB post from I Heart Crafty Things. Rachel and her 3 kids share all kinds of activities on the blog I Heart Crafty Things. She got the idea from another parent.
This one is from the book Little Bit of Dirt by Asia Citro at Fun at Home with Kids. Even after watching the video, we weren’t sure about blowing bubbles with a dandelion! But we wanted to try. (On Asia’s site, right under the book picture there are lots of links, or click on the image below.)
We brought the dandelions home, cut off the top and bottom, and rinsed off the dirt. Since it was a warm day, we used a small container on the table outside. 
Little Sister just started blowing in the water in the bin. Sure enough, the dandelion stem was like a straw and the water bubbled up. With a bit of soap in the water, she blew lots of soap bubbles. After that, she’d had enough for awhile and needed a rest before trying to blow bubbles. But she certainly showed Big Sister how it worked and told her about it.
What a super nature and science activity. Often, we think that kids need to have wild, open spaces in order to interact with nature. This close encounter of the nature kind took place along a sidewalk and with a bin of water at home. Who would have thought a dandelion, which is usually pulled up as a weed and discarded, could facilitate such a connection to nature?
We all learned something about dandelions–they have a hollow stem like a straw. In the future, we won’t be taking them for granted any more. Even more important, this reinforced the message that nature is everywhere, we just have to look for it. Will you and your child try making dandelion bubbles?