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This summer vacation, I decided to take it easy. Instead of enrolling my son in summer camps that would keep him occupied with standard routines, I chose to experiment and explore activities we generally don't get to do. I opted for free play, sprinkled with a few highly engaging workshops.
Last weekend, we attended a lovely beeswax and soy wax candle-making workshop hosted by Kidsstoppress, and it was phenomenal! More than my son, I got so hooked on it that I have been Googling candle making and its variations since I returned.
It was a sweet little team put together, and they started off with a cute role play about how bees make honey and wax, and why they are so important for a healthy, sustainable ecosystem. The kids participated and really enjoyed it.
We started by painting our jars and then decorating them with glitter, stickers, feathers, and all things pretty, including smiles and giggles. Once the jars were done, we moved on to prepping them by attaching the wicks.
To make a candle, you need to melt the wax and then pour it into the jars. That's it! But this was no ordinary wax; it was beeswax, and as I went closer to take a look, I couldn't shrug off the lingering smell of honey that the melted wax was emanating.
Once the wax has melted and is piping hot, you need to remove it from the heat and add the aromatics. In our case, we were just smitten by lavender, so that's what we used. If you ever decide to make candles yourself, feel free to explore rose, jasmine, lemongrass, or maybe even orange. How about neem essential oil? That'll keep the mosquitoes away too! Anyways, back to candle making... once the hot wax was poured, all the mommies were delegated the job of holding the wicks until the wax solidified while the kids went ahead doing what they do best—play.
Once the works of art were done, the rockstars came out! One of the emcees is also into composting, and she brought a box full of earthworms. Some kids squealed in delight, some cringed, and some (like me) were too scared, but they were all eyes once the worms were taken out.
We all returned home with a beautiful experience that will burn in our memories just like the candles we made. My son very gracefully offered me to use his candle in my yoga class, which I shall do as it would help me in sharing the awareness that such initiatives deserve.
What I also learned from this workshop was that natural materials can be so soothing to touch, feel, and smell. My son scraped some of the wax that had dribbled on the table, and I was surprised to see how pliable beeswax was compared to synthetic paraffin. "Just like clay," he said, hardly containing his excitement. And that excitement poured into my heart too, pleased at his discoveries and the new skill he learned to make candles at home!
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