Activities for EYFS Areas of Learning

ICE CANDLES

You will need:

• Candle wax
• Coloured candle dye
• Wick string
• A small tin (e.g. a used food tin)
• Scotch/sticky tape
• Half a cup of crushed ice
• A stick that is long enough to sit on top of your small tin
• A saucepan or similar to melt the wax

What to do:

Cut a piece of wick string so that it is about 5-10 cm longer than the height of your small tin. Use the scotch tape to stick one end of the wick to the bottom of the tin can (on the inside of the tin), then tie the other end of the wick around the middle of your stick. The stick should sit on top of the tin can.

Put a small amount of crushed ice into the tin. Make sure the base of the tin is well covered. A depth of about 2 cm is good.

Put the wax and candle dye into the saucepan. Heat the saucepan gently until the wax and dye are melted.

Carefully pour the wax into the tin over the crushed ice. Try not to fill the tin too high. Leave to set.

When the candle has cooled and set, take it out of the tin. You may need to slip a knife in around the edge of the candle to free it from the tin.

Cut the wick to a reasonable size at both ends. If all went well, the candle should have an interesting, textured effect on one end and should be ready to light.

Things to try:

'Cook up' several different colours of wax, then pour them into the tin alternately to produce a layered effect. Let the wax set a little before pouring in each successive layer to ensure that the colours are kept separate.

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