he head of youth services at Jackson County Public Library in Seymour knows a lot about the science of bubbles.

She knows what it takes to make a bubble, how to make bubbles hold together just a little longer and how to make square bubbles.

But like millions of kids, she also knows one other thing about bubbles.

“There just fun,” Lola Snyder said during the middle of the third annual Bubblefest on Friday morning at the library at 303 W. Second St.

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The event is always a popular one, drawing hundreds of children with mom — or even dad — in tow in some cases.

Mark Stephens of Seymour said his daughter, 6-year-old Sloane, saw something in the newspaper about Bubblefest.

“She’s been talking about it for several weeks,” he said. “This is the first time we’ve been to the Bubblefest. I think it’s great. It’s good clean fun.”

Sloane said taking part in the body bubble activity was her favorite. In that activity, a child stands inside a small plastic child’s pool and a library staff member or volunteer pulls a bubble up over their over their body using a hula hoop soaked in a bubble solution in the bottom of the pool.

The children could also make giant bubbles, bubble snakes and even fire a water balloon with the help of a slingshot against a wall of the library.

Dana Nowland of Freetown brought her three children and her niece to Bubblefest after participating in the summer reading program.

She said they knew about Bubblefest.

“We’ve been to it before,” she said. “They love the bubbles.”

Nowland’s 8-year-old daughter, Mattie Nowland, disagreed.

“I don’t really like bubbles,” she said while pulling a bunch away from her arm and hand.

“As soon as they start blowing you can’t get away from them,” she said.

Snyder said learned about Bubblefest when she worked at another library.

“I decided to do it here for a couple of reasons,” Snyder said. “First of all, the science of bubbles is really cool. Actually its all about surface tension and how molecules stay together even when we’re making square bubbles.”

Most bubbles are circular, which is the most stable shape in nature, she said.

“There’s all kinds of science,” Snyder said.

The other reason is not quite as complicated.

“It’s just fun,” Snyder said.

It’s also cheap fun.

“Bubble solution is really easy to make,” she said.

Glycerine is added to the solution to make the bubbles hold up a little better, Snyder said.

She said holding the event outside complicates the bubble-making process. When the event began at 10 a.m. Friday, the wind was a little stiff making it hard to produce good bubbles at some of the stations.

“Actually the best place to do Bubblefest is indoors, and then you just wash your carpets without soap,” she said with a laugh. “But when you have it outdoors you have to go with what the weather is doing.”

Snyder said she never has any trouble recruiting staff for the popular event because it is a lot of fun. There also were two volunteers helping out.

“We could do more stations if we had more volunteers,” she said.

Jill Willey, a youth services assistant at the library, said Bubblefest is one of the more popular events at the library for kids each year.

“They love it,” she said of bubble making. “It’s something they can do themselves.”

Burke Gillaspy, 10, of Seymour, said he heard about Bubblefest and thought it might be cool.

“And it really is cool,” he said.

Gillaspy said he really liked the slingshot station, where children were able to propel a water balloon against one of the walls of the library.

He said he just having a chance to hit the wall with a water balloon was great.

Bubblefest also was Thursday at the Crothersville Library.