Activities For Students
Family Activities
How to Make a Swedish Candle
When I was growing up, making "Swedish candles"—snölykta—was a winter tradition in my family, one that I've now passed on to my girls. Who doesn't need light in a dark winter, and in some darker times? It’s also just a fun activity to get you outdoors in winter to notice all that’s around you, and how the light slowly shifts as darkness falls.
You'll need:
- Sticky snow
- A candle (tea, votive, or shorter tapers)
- A calm evening
- Patience
Instructions (see time lapse below)
- Stomp down a small area of snow and make an indent to hold your candle.
- Make some snowballs and place them in a circle around the indent. (How big a circle? To start, try ~18" diameter.) Leave a small gap in your circle as an opening for placing your candle later.
- Continue placing snowballs on top of your first layer. As your wall gets taller, start shifting each snowball slightly closer to the center to shape the dome. You'll also need to slowly place snowballs up and over the opening. (This is the trickiest part.)
- Light your candle, and place it through the opening. (You can try positioning/lighting your candle first, then building around it, but if your walls tumble, which is common, you'll have a wet wick.)
- Close up the opening with a few snowballs and press loose snow into any "chinks" to protect your flame from breezes.
- Enjoy!
A quick candle construction. (Note: Leaf tannins created some "yellow" snow!)
Here's the candle lit at dusk.
Tips
1. "Sloppy" snowballs will stick to one another more easily than perfectly shaped ones.
2. Put a votive candle inside a mason jar if it's breezy. Just remember to retrieve the glass later.
3. Start in mid- or late afternoon. You get to see the lit candles transform as darkness falls.
4. Invite others: One candle is beautiful; a collection is stunning. And you can all enjoy hot cocoa afterwards!
2. Put a votive candle inside a mason jar if it's breezy. Just remember to retrieve the glass later.
3. Start in mid- or late afternoon. You get to see the lit candles transform as darkness falls.
4. Invite others: One candle is beautiful; a collection is stunning. And you can all enjoy hot cocoa afterwards!
While sticky snow makes wonderful candles, you can also make:
- Snow shingle candles: If you get a freezing rain on top of snow (common here in New England!), you can gently stomp or karate chop the snow's icy surface to break it into irregular "shingles," then stack them.
- Snow block candles: These take more work, but they're so beautiful. If you get a lot of freezing and thawing that compacts the snow, use a garden edger or a shovel to cut out blocks for stacking.
Be creative! Have fun! Enjoy the snow.