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Feathering Palm Wax Flower Pillar

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This is the palm pillar that I made with my daughter the other day. Palm is perfect for pillars and it looks so pretty with its sparkling patterns.

It also throws a scent very well and doesn’t require additives. In fact, if you add additives it might mess the feathering effect up.

Also, if the palm wax cools down too quickly, it might not feather either.  I learned this the hard way when making votives.

This time, we warmed the mold in the oven before pouring the wax and that helped. Palm wax needs to be heated up to 200 F (93 C) and poured at about 190 F (88 C). We used a cotton wick, which seems to work well with palm pillars.

I think the last time I made palm candles, it was the summer, so the temperature wasn’t an issue.  Besides that, palm is very low maintenance because you don’t need a second pour of wax and it slips out of the mold easily without any sort of mold release.  Palm wax is great to work with because it’s so lovely and it burns well for a long time.

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Hanukkah Unit Studies for Kids

Learning about Hanukkah is important for people of all faiths as a reminder that December isn’t just about Christmas and that their are many other important holidays that happen during this time. Hanukkah unit studies can give you ideas for incorporating the holiday into your holiday studies that happen in December, or to use at home for learning about people of different faiths.

Homeschool Superfreak has a lot of basic ideas for how to build a Hanukkah unit study, as well as FAQs about what Hanukkah is and why it is celebrated. This list is a good stargint point but doesn’t include all the details you’ll need. For example it says you can play the dreidel game but doesn’t explain how to do that or why it’s important. (If you need that information, this post from Mama Smiles is a good source.)

Teachers Pay Teachers has lots of great lesson plans and activities if you’re willing to pay a little bit to get some good content. Two I really like are this Hanukkah PowerPoint presentation from Shelia Melton, which provides a good overview of traditions, food and the history of Hanukkah; and a virtual field trip to Jerusalem from MagiCore, which includes lots of videos showing the city and activities like playing dreidel, drawing a menorah and making latkes. It’s a Google Drive folder and also includes writing activities and more for kids in second to fifth grade.

Kids Activities Blog has some simple printables with facts about Hanukkah and things kids can color in like a Star of David, sufganiyots (jelly doughnuts) and a menorah. These are great for learning the basics.

Homeschool Giveaways has a printable ebook about Hanukkah complete with questions kids can answer after they read. This would be a good one for older kids with good reading comprehension.

NurtureStore’s Hanukkah unit study includes a printable mini book, tons of crafts, as well as math and writing activities. I love the dominoes game that’s part of the unit.

And check out our previous posts for more Hanukkah crafts and learning activities!