Candle Making- a Great Activity for KidsIf you are a parent, then you probably have thousands of broken crayons placed strategically around your home, maybe in places you don’t even know exist. And of course, once the crayon get broken, your children refuse to use it anymore, so it just continues to float around the house until you either suck it up in the vacuum cleaner, or get angry and throw it in the garbage, much to the disdain of your children. They refuse to use the broken crayon, but don’t want to get rid of it either. Well, there is something that you can do with all of those crayons, that will be enjoyable for both you and your children; you can turn them into candles. Candles make terrific gifts, and kids love actually getting to be involved in arts and crafts projects, especially with you. So, have your children save all of their broken crayons, and then right before the holidays, you can turn them into candles, for grandparents, friends, etc. Keep in mind, your children may not be able to participate in the entire process, as you will be required to melt the candles down, and the hot wax could cause very serious burns should an accident occur. Just make certain that you let them participate in all of the other steps, so they don’t feel left out of the process. The first thing you will need to do is gather supplies. You obviously will need many crayons, and you will also need some sort of wax container, such as a milk carton. You will need to purchase some paraffin wax, you will need at least two trays of ice cubes, some white string, and some sort of double broiler. You will need to cut the top off of the wax container, so that it ends up being approximately six inches in height. The string should be around eight inches in length. To create a decent wick, you should cut three lengths of string, and then braid them into one. When you are finished braiding, use two other pieces of string to tie the ends together so that they stay in place. Glass baby food jars work great as candle holders, if you don’t have those, anything flame retardant will work. You will need to first melt the paraffin wax down, start with approximately three pounds. The melting process will take less time if you cut the wax into small pieces. You can expect this step to take at least twenty minutes to be complete. While you are melting the paraffin wax, have your children remove all the paper from the crayons. It is a good idea to separate them according to color, light colors together, dark colors together, especially if you want to make designs in the candles. You should wait until the paraffin has melted completely before you start adding any crayons to the mix. Make sure when you do add the crayons that you give them time to melt completely, and mix them in with the paraffin. As soon as this happens, you should pour the mixture into your candle holders. If you really want to get creative, you can add some scented oils or cinnamon for some fragrance. The candles should not be bothered until they have completely hardened. This can be difficult, especially for young children, but it can take quite some time for the wax to cool, and little fingers could easily be burned by “checking” the candles. One great way to keep children occupied and away from danger while you are melting wax is to allow them to draw their own designs on their candle holders, using markers, paint, glitter, etc. This allows them to add their own personal touch to the candle project, without getting around the melting wax. |
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