Propeller Review - Another Vane

Photo from emmabradshaw.blogspot.com

The epitome of a joyful summer day with preschoolers is the image of bubbles floating in a gentle breeze. My husband and I just love to blow bubbles but we are purists - we prefer dipping the bubble wand into bubble solution, carefully pulling it out and then blowing with just the right amount of umph to get a lovely stream of bubbles to go sailing through the air. Our one year old is all about the dipping part but she is less agile with bringing the wand to her mouth without licking it. Our three year old is our preschool engineer and likes the bubbles but the process of making the bubbles the old fashioned way just isn't that interesting to him.

Enter the bubble gun. Toys have come a long way in the decades since I was a child...some good ways and some bad. The barrage of bubbles that can be created by bubbles guns and bubble generators gives rise to pure joy. Plus, the propeller that drives the air through the bubble-holder-thingie makes the toy just plain awesome for a preschool engineer.

We had the opportunity to play with a few different bubble guns last week and let me tell you some were better than others. The good ones by Amazing Bubbles were hardy toys, gave great air flow and seemed to be pretty toddler-proof:



The novelty gun was provocative at first. We could see the gears and propellers whirling around inside. The bubble juice had a direct feed to the gun, which would eliminate the need to stop and dip. But the gun failed after minutes of use. The screw for the reservoir broke as did the mechanism inside the gun. Take note and if you're in the market for a bubble gun then avoid buying this one.



Lastly, if you're skipping the battery-operated toys but you are interested in some bubble blowing "wands" that require less dexterity and coordination than the typical ones then check out Melissa and Doug's Chameleon, Butterfly and Alligator. They are on my Amazon List called Duh! Bubble Blowing.