Breaking Up a Beeswax Block

We are doing Candlemaking this week (ties in nicely with Michaelmas and Halloween and making jack o' lanterns). I've already done rolled candles with my students -- we do this on the first day of school every year and then burn the candles at lunchtime all year long. But we will dip candles on Monday, plan our jack o' lanterns Tuesday, make poured candles Wednesday, and finally carve the pumpkins on Thursday. I am looking through all my candlemaking stuff now. I have done this for years but you can always learn new things! For example, these directions suggest putting the block of beeswax in the freezer to make it more brittle before you hit it with a hammer to break it up into small pieces for melting. GREAT IDEA!

Always have a large quantity of baking soda readily available in the case of a wax fire and never melt the wax over direct heat. I put my wax chunks in an old Juicy Juice can and place the can in a pot of hot water which I set on the hot plate. When the wax is melted I move the can out of the pot of hot water and set it on an old towel on the counter and let the children dip their candles. Meanwhile, the second Juicy Juice can of wax chunks is warming in the water. When the can which is out of the heat cools off too much, I swap the cans and we keep going.

I also found a poem by Isabel Wyatt which I will read on Monday before we dip our candles. It's called "The Happy Candle" from The Way Down: Christmas Poems for Children of All Ages. Now out of print, you can still sometimes find used copies.