During the last few weeks of summer, before school starts, enjoy making bubbles with your children. Activities can be just as fun for adults.

Laura Dufton teaches at the Maine Discovery Museum in downtown Bangor. While searching for things to do with the children, she came across a bubble project that children and adults love – painting with bubbles.

“They love it – it’s easy success,” Dufton said. “The kids giggle and laugh and get paint on themselves.”

It’s a simple project that can be done at home. Dufton let me practice my artistic skills, or rather find them, by making my own bubble paper. By the time I left, I had three masterpieces that I couldn’t wait to show off and I had pink paint speckled on my face. It made me feel like a kid again and I loved it.

To make your own bubble paper, you’ll need your favorite colors of tempera paint, water, dish detergent (clear or white), a wooden spoon, dishpan or plastic tray, straws and paper.

Place paint, water and dish detergent in a dishpan and mix together.

Pour an inch of water into the bottom of the pan.

Pour in the paint and detergent and mix everything together. There are no set measurements but once everything is mixed, take the straw and blow into the mixture. Lots of colorful soap bubbles should appear. If the mixture is too thick add water or soap as necessary.

Once the pan is full of bubbles, take the paper and lightly touch the bubbles, letting them pop on the paper. Cover the whole sheet. Once the sheet is dry, you can start over and place different colors on top.

The finished product can be used for book covers, matting around a child’s painting, cards, bookmarks or in collages.

Trash bags can be used as protection on tables and the floor.

For people who like old-fashioned bubble blowing, there are different ways to make homemade solutions – and some ingredients are sitting in the kitchen cabinet.

One of the easiest methods is to make bubbles simply by using your hands. Put your fingers together so they form an opening that looks like a triangle or cup your hands so the opening looks like a diamond. Dip your hands in a bowl of bubble solution and once you have a bubbly film, blow gently.

Coat hangers also make great bubble blowers. Open up the hanger and bend it to any shape such as a star, a square or a heart, then use pliers to bend the handle of the coat hanger flat. Wrap the end with string to make it easier to hold. Continue wrapping the hoop with string in a spiral fashion so the hoop will hold more solution and make bigger bubbles.

A tin can with both ends cut off works well and so does the plastic that holds a six-pack of soda together.

String also can be used to blow bubbles. According to “Professor Bubbles,” you can take a piece of cotton string, about 3 to 4 feet long and tie the ends together so it forms a loop. Dip the string into a dish of soap solution and stretch it out so you have the liquid caught in the middle. Hold it up and blow gently to make lots of bubbles.

Some of Professor Bubbles’ favorite recipes:

. Bubble Formula No. 1: 1 part Dawn Ultra or Joy Ultra, 15 parts water (distilled water works best), .25 parts glycerin (available at most drug stores) or white Karo syrup (optional).

. Bubble Formula No. 2: 1 part regular Dawn, Joy or Ivory, 10 parts water (distilled water works best), .25 parts glycerin or white Karo syrup (optional)

. Super Bubbles: 2 parts regular Dawn, Joy or Ivory, 4 parts glycerin, 1 part white Karo syrup.