Making candles with kids

Here is a project that the kids will enjoy as they can make various shapes.

Line a cooking tray with non-stick baking paper.

This is a good way to use up old candles and the kiddies could help you pull the wax off the old wicks.

Melt your wax in the usual way in a double boiler to the right temperature using a candle thermometer so that you do not over heat it.
Allow the wax to slightly cool then pour it into the prepared tray.

Let it cool and set until it is still just a little soft then use metal cutters to cut out shapes in the wax.

If the wax shapes do not drop out of the cutters you can dip them in a bowl of water and ice which will set and shrink the wax to allow it to drop out, or if that does not work you can pop it in the freezer but this takes a while and means you cannot use the same cutters.

In choosing the cutters be aware that cutters like a lion for example, would be difficult for the kiddies to get the legs out without breakages so it is often best to use shapes like stars, hearts, rounds, gingerbread man, and other more open shapes. In saying that, if there are arms and legs like say a gingerbread man, they can be manipulated while the wax is still warm, into bending shapes.

When all the shapes have been cut and the wax might still be warm, it can be squeezed and molded into shapes as well.