Your child will use push pins, map pins, or tacks to decorate a plain candle—it makes a great gift, or beautifies and lights up your own home!
What You Need:
- plain round wax candle, thick enough for pushing pins into it
- push pins or map pins, and/or tacks in various colors
What You Do:
- Have your child think of some designs he might want to create by arranging the pins into certain shapes. For example he could make a flower design by using a round tack in the middle, surrounded by push pin “petals” and a green stem made of push pins or map pins. Another design example is a smiley face, a heart shape or a rainbow.
- Once he has a design or two in mind, he can carefully push the pins straight into the wax side of the candle. They will go into the wax leaving only the top colorful part of the pin showing on the side surface of the candle.
- Have him arrange his pins as he pushes them into the candle into his planned design shape. He can put designs on one side or all around the candle.
- He may wish to take a photo of the completed candle, in case he is giving it away as a gift or if it does get used (burned down) at some point.
Remind your child that adults should be present to help light and burn a candle, and that a candle holder should be used to catch melting wax. Enjoy your new candle!
By Beth Levin
Beth Levin has an M.A. in Curriculum and Education from Columbia University Teachers College. She has written educational activities for Macmillan/McGraw-Hill and Renaissance Learning publishers. She has a substitute teaching credential for grades K-12 in Oregon, where she lives with her husband and two daughters.
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