After the success of the Queen Anne's Lace experiment, I thought I'd involve Josie in making a candle using ice cubes. I did this a lifetime ago when I was the Arts and Crats teacher (as well as English) at Independent Day School in Tampa. Of course, those kids were older than six . . .
I rounded up my supplies--some milk cartons I'd saved, paraffin wax, old crayons, and some recycled cans to melt the wax in.
Ah.
Josie wanted the cartons and the cans to make houses for her Castle People. So, I showed her a video of a grandmotherly soul making ice cube candles and told her how pretty they would look when the interior candle melted down and the whole thing lit up like a lantern.
Somewhat reluctantly she agreed to relinquish her Castle People's housing and choose colors for the candles. Rainbow was her first choice but as we had only three cans, she could have only three colors. So, green for Mama, blue for Daddy, and pink for Herself--everybody's favorite colors.
Obviously, she had to stay away from the melting wax. And by the time I was packing ice cubes around the candles, she had pretty much lost interest in the whole endeavor and was making a house for the CP--a cylinder of paper taped together.
She observed the pouring of the melted colored wax and agreed to my topping off the pink and the blue candles with green. . .
When the wax had hardened, I poured off the water and tried to get her to help tear the milk carton away.
"No! I don't want sticky wax on my hands."
Okay.
She was pleased with the outcome. "The pink one is like watermelon!"
Last, I cut off the excess inner candle and lit it.
"That doesn't look like a lantern," she said. I explained through clenched teeth that it would take some time--days even--for the candle to burn down that far.
"I'm sorry this wasn't more interesting to you," I said.
"Meema, sometimes things you think are fun aren't fun for me," she explained kindly. "And Mama and Daddy will like the candles.
Okay, fair enough. Coulda been worse, I guess.
7 comments:
It may be something that she will want to do at some other time when she is a bit older. Or maybe not.
Well, she's right, you know. If it just doesn't interest her, it's a lost cause. She certainly seemed pleased with the dyed flowers, though. And you're the one who got her started drawing and painting, interests that may last a lifetime -- and when she's teaching her own kids to paint, she will tell them about her days at Meema's house, creating her own vision of the world.
Great idea that went poof for her interest...I remember in the 70s making those ice candles in forms...I had a plastic one of a mushroom which was popular. Oh well. The next generation down from the next one to ours, the one of our grands doesn't have a name yet...but they will be dealing with so much technology it's good to have some input that is earthy from the elders. Candles will work so well if the electric power goes out and all the tech devices should not work.
Well, if she took them home for Mom and Dad she may eventually see them burning at their finest and thank you.
I remember speaking thru "clinched teeth" a lot when my daughter was Josie's age.
I thoroughly enjoyed this post. I remember (as a grown-up) making candles for Christmas presents one year. Since I'm very artsy craftsy, it was great fun for me. But I do think it's a bit of a stretch for a five-year old. Still, I loved Josie's final explanation (said so "kindly"). :-)
I think she was exceptionally diplomatic about the way she told you <3
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