Activity 1: make candles yourself
Supplies:
- Old leftover candles
- A pan with water + glass bowl
- Bucket, pot or glass jar, etc. to make the candle in
- Long wick
Fiery fun with the youth group
Finally, summer holiday. For many young people, this is also the time to head off to summer camp. Great moments spent romping in the woods and organising outdoor activities. Of course, you’ll find plenty of candles at practically every camp because tea lights add extra ambience and cosiness there too. But you sometimes need some extra inspiration to keep your members busy for a week. That’s why, this month, we’re giving you some great ideas for outdoor activities with candles. However, always be careful with fire and melted candle wax and only do this under supervision.
Collect old leftover candles to make a large group candle together. Use a large terracotta pot or cast iron bucket to make your candle. Buy a thick wick (available in most hobby stores) and glue it to the bottom in the middle of your pot or bucket with silicone. Wrap the top of the wick around a branch and let it rest on the edge of your bucket or pot so that your wick stays nicely in the middle.
Let the leader melt the leftover candles in a bain-marie. Add a few centimetres of candle wax to your bucket or pot. Then let it cool down. Fill your bucket or pot to a maximum of 3 inches below the edge. Cut your wick down to 1 cm and light it. Enjoy your unique, homemade candle!
Attention: we do not recommend doing this activity with a group of young children. Always be careful with melted candle wax and provide adequate supervision.
Activity 2: Decorating candles
Supplies:
- Cylinder candle
- Candle markers
- Decorative wax plates
- Felt markers + white napkins + parchment paper + warm hairdryer
Provide a (rustic) cylinder candle for each member of your group. Collect fireproof materials to decorate your candle. Use the candle markers and decorative wax plates to work directly on the candle.
You can transfer the print on a napkin to your candle. Use a nice pattern of napkins or use white napkins that you decorate yourself with felt-tip markers. Then cut your napkin to the size of the candle and take the layers of the napkin apart. You only need the top layer. Roll your napkin firmly around your candle and then roll parchment paper around it. Use a hairdryer on the warmest setting to lightly melt napkin onto the candle. You will see the design get darker when it has melted. Make sure you don’t aim the hair dryer at one spot for too long; otherwise, your whole candle will melt!
Activity 3: Lantern hike or light walk
Supplies:
- Glass jar for each member
- Iron wire and tongs
- Kite paper/napkins + glue
- Glass paint + brushes
- Sand or stones
Let each member bring several glass jars; these can be jam or chocolate spread jars. Make a wire handle for each jam jar. Be careful; make sure this handle is long enough! Let the kids decorate their pots. Nice ideas are to work with kite paper or napkins, but glass paint is also a possibility. When all the pots are decorated and dry, fill a third of the pot with sand or small stones. Pop a tea light into each one and you can head off on a cosy lantern hike!
Activity 4: Shooting candles
Supplies:
- Candles
- Water guns
- Buckets of water
Only a few candles and a water pistol for each member guarantee fiery fun. Make a row of tea lights next to each other per group and light them. Divide the group in two and give them each several water pistols. Each group should try to extinguish its series of candles as quickly as possible. Fun guaranteed!
Activity 5: Capture the flag with candles
The well-known ‘capture the flag’ game has a lesser known variant in which the participants have to blow out the other team’s candles.
Of course, you play this game at dusk or after dark. Find a location, such as a forest or meadow landscape with dry ground, separated by a road. Place approx. 12 jam jars on the road with 2 colours of candles in them (6 of each colour for each team). There are four ‘guards’, for example the leaders, with flashlights on the road. The guards must stay on the road.
The group divides in half and sets up their camps on each side of the road at about the same distance. At the guards’ whistle, anyone can camouflage themselves and sneak towards the road.
If you are recognised by the guards and your name is called, you have to go back to your camp and start again. The team that was able to blow out all the other team’s candles first has won.
Activity 6: A light message
A fun evening activity for older groups: provide a lot of tea lights and come up with a slogan or image to summarise the group or the camp. Let the group work together to display the slogan, group name, or image with tea lights. Light up the candles and take a picture as a souvenir of this fun time.
