candle art

What is it about candles that mesmorises and captures kids attention?? Is it the flame? Is it knowing its dangerous? Or is it simply the light, swaying, totally captivating??

I remember as a child ( probably older child, probably even an early teen) and being allowed to strike a match to light a candle on a cake, then sneakily lighting almost half the box just to watch them burn... no, Im not a pyromaniac or anything like that. I just remember watching the flame dance, being totally mesmorized by it.

My kids are the same. Birthday candles are lit for each and every household memberat every birthday so that everyone can have a candle to blow out, Today, whilst its just Amahli and me for a short while, I did some candle art with her.
Now, at 2 yrs old, shes probably a bit young unless you are totally ready for the probability that she'll either A) drop it, B) drip wax on herself, or C) throw it at me to get rid of it, but I have done this craft for years with lots of kids so I was pretty prepared :)

So I got her ready by first telling her that they were hot, and NOT to drop it on the paper or me or herself.

We started with some simple dripping which we did with coloured candles. Candles that are long or have a stick are the best to use as the flame is just that bit further away from little fingers...

She worked out pretty quickly that lowering the candle to the page ( yes I was a touch concerned but was also watching her carefully) that she could actually draw with the hot wax rather than just dripping it. I was amazed at how quiet she was and how attentive she was to watching that little flame.

We also did some wax resist painting where we drew on a page with a white candle and then painted over it with watercolour. This didnt hold as much appeal as you cant see the markings you draw until you paint over it.

If you arent keen on letting your child handle a candle themselves alight just yet you could also do something similiar with candles by using them in playdough. A while back we made playdough cakes and then put candles in to sing happy birthday.

What other things can you do with candles??