Each year when the holidays roll around, I begin thinking of a craft my students can make to give their parents for Christmas. This year I decided to revisit a craft I made years ago with students. After visiting Wonder #443 How Do You Make Candles? and discussing how candles are made, we began making our candles for Christmas gifts. A mom that came in to help out was amazed at how simple and easy the process was, so I thought I would share. This would be a great activity to do with kids while they are out of school during Winter Break or out of school for a snow day.
Materials:
- an old crockpot
- old candles to melt down (great way to recycle)
- candle wicks
- molds
- optional glitter to sprinkle on top
- an old measuring cup for pouring the wax into molds
- old spoon(s) for stirring
Directions:
- Place the crockpot on high.
- Place old candles in the crockpot to melt. It can take up to an hour to melt larger candles.
- Scrape soft wax off the candles to help the melting process.
- Once there is enough wax melted, you can start pouring the wax into molds.
- When the candles start to get stiff, add the wick and optional glitter. You can reuse the wicks from the melted candles, but will also need to buy some at a craft store.
- Once the candles have cooled in the molds (about 30 minutes), they pop right out of the rubber molds.
Another great Wonder to visit as a follow-up to this craft is Wonder #276 Does Matter Really Matter? to help explain the solid and liquid of this activity.
(4 votes, avg. 4.00 out of 5) 
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