http://www.care2.com/greenliving/simple-beeswax-candles-to-make-with-kids.html
Simple Beeswax Candles to Make With Kids
Today, I uncovered my dusty beeswax blocks and old candle drippings and we made candles for our Garden of Lights party–coming up in early February. The kids and I had a fantastic time. Not only does the beeswax smell heavenly when it melts, but we listened to Grampa’s stories of making candles on his farm when he was a boy. He talked about life without electricity, and how candles were so important if you wanted light in the evening.
Why beeswax instead of paraffin? Beeswax candles are free from dangerous chemicals, so we can burn them worry-free. Though there are many blogs discussing candle-dipping (this one has great pictures), our method seemed a little simpler to me.
MATERIALS
• Beeswax drippings and/or purchased blocks of beeswax.
• 100% cotton thread.
• Pot 10 inches in diameter, at least 10 inches tall. (This pot will collect some beeswax, so if you have an older pot that you don’t use as much
for cooking, I’d use it.)
• Thick glass or can at least 8 inches tall, relatively narrow (2 inches diameter worked well for us) that can be “sacrificed” to the cause.
• Newspaper for splatters.
1. My daughter Jasmine and friends Maia and Lola broke beeswax drippings into small chunks with their fingers and heels of their shoes (not recommended inside the house).
2. Meanwhile, I heated water in a pot with a 10 inch diameter. We dropped our wax bits in a tall glass (roughly 8 inches tall, 2 inch diameter) in the pot.
3. As the wax melted, we tied about 10 inches of 100% cotton string to sticks.
4. The children enjoyed taking turns stirring the wax until it was melted (it took about 15 minutes), I found that moving it around seemed to help it melt faster.
5. We surrounded the dipping area with newspaper and once the wax was melted, we began dipping. (While we did the entire project on the stove, I have since learned that the wax hardens slowly enough in the hot water that we could have pulled the hot pot onto the table and dipped from there. Much easier clean-up, but cannot re-fill your beeswax with extra chunks easily while working. We refilled twice and it helped that we could just drop our wax bits right in rather than move back to the stove.)
6. To start, I took each child’s wick and dipped it into the wax, pulling it out along the side of the glass so it would drop straight. After this point, each child took control of her stick, though I steadied the sticks each time they came out of the wax to control spattering.
7. We found that the kids wanted to dip faster than the wax would cool, so we began to dip each candle in ice water after dipping in the hot wax. It sped the time between dips and allowed us to build up nice fat candles faster.
8. When the candles were acceptably thick, we trimmed each off the stick and behold! Fat little 5-6 inch candles! Everyone was very pleased with their candles and couldn’t wait for nightfall to burn them!
NOTE: You could make a pillar candle with the remaining wax in your melting glass by suspending a wick from a stick over the glass. To get the wick to the bottom, you can weight it with a rock or ceramic bead.
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Robyn
Melissa
Deepak
Eric
Dave
Dr. Brent
Isha
Susan
Delia
Michelle
Wendy
Megan
Hilary
Ann
Judi
Ronnie
Kelly
Lily
Terri
Betsy
Cait
Andrew
Jana
Annie B.
Veronica
14 comments
add your comment »thanks...
Kabin
Konteyner,Prefabrik
mega kabin
Konteyner
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Thanx a ton for explaining, Beth! :) I can see what you mean.
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Hi Marwa,
You tie the cotton thread to the stick and use it to hold the wick (sort of like a fishing rod). Only the cotton goes into the wax, not the stick, see if you can see what I mean in the photo of the activity. When the candle is done (whenever it's the right size for you) you trim the wick, and the stick to which it is attached is thereby separated from the candle--it never touched the wax.
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Just a question for clarification... you end up with a candle in which there is string AND a stick? Did I understand that right, or am I missing something here? If the stick remains in the candle, wouldn't you be burning wood along with the thread when you light the candle?
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Thank you for all your encouragement and also great suggestions! I cannot wait to do this project again with all the new ideas.
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Two words: Interesting and charming. I'm thinking of making beeswax candles myself. Mow if I could find enough materials for the said candle...
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As an Apiculturist,an Environment Biologist,a University Professor and,above all, a grandpa, I appreciate the initiative of Hilary.Teaching the kids to prepare beeswax candles is a highly constructive activity.We depend on industries even for petty things/articles which we can prepare at home with great ease.Perfecting the small kids in such a venture is certainly wonderful.Beeswax is different from paraffin wax on several counts, and one most important is while burning it does not give foul smell. That is the reason that candles used in churches are made up of beeswax.Hilary is doing another wonderful job for the beekeepers. By popularizing this activity she is doing great service for the beekeepers whose beeswax will be in great demand for candle making.And most important, she is using inovative methods to generate practical skills among the little masters.She deserves to be awarded and rewarded.
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chaRMING!
R:-)
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Remarkeble work for the children who are a student for the further studing them field, and how to manufacture some thing from the raw materials,and how to operate
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Hilary, your photo reinspires me as a homeschooling family. I sometimes think I'll bail and send them off to school.. and then I see a beautiful photo like this and activity and realize they are only little for a little while! Thank you for an unifying craft that has science and history all wrapped up in one little beeswax candle.
Susi Hackman
homeschooling mother of 2 and science tutor.
ps - you can often find a donated home-beauty machine for parafin treatments for hands, feet, elbows at the local goodwill for next to nothing. They are really safe and melt wax perfectly.
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