One sunny day I brought out the bubble stuff and some wire hangers to get the kids working on their own bubble wands. (I have never had luck with homemade bubble solution, so I bought a giant bottle at Walgreens for $0.99. These two really struggled with the project because the end of the hanger was too close to the shape constructed and the bubbles burst almost immediately. I talked with a math teacher who does a similar project with straws and I found many bubble projects on Pinterest. I usually like Instructables but on this one, I didn't think a wooden dowel was strictly necessary. I may try to add cotton string to the design for better success. Martha Stewart has a good page also, but I find that these instructions over complicate the matter.