How Do Children Do Waldorf Beeswax Modeling?

In Waldorf beeswax modeling, your child holds a small piece of colored wax in their hands until it softens, often while you tell a story. Then they shape it from one whole piece into a ball, a snail or a sleeping bird. Children can start at about 4 with your help, and it carries on through the early grades. For small hands, warm the wax in a bag in warm water first. When you're done, press each piece flat so it's ready for next time.

What beeswax modeling looks like

Picture a kindergarten table on a cold morning. Each child has a small square of colored wax, perhaps deep blue. It's hard at first, and they hold it in cupped hands while the teacher tells a short story. By the end of the story the wax has softened. One child rolls a ball. Another pulls a head and tail out of an egg shape to make a bird.

That's most of it. Modeling beeswax is a firm wax, mostly beeswax, that softens in the warmth of the hands. Stockmar, the German maker whose wax you'll find on most Waldorf supply lists, describes it as becoming malleable "in the hands' warmth." Once it cools, it keeps its shape. The colors are clear enough that light shines through a thin piece, which is why children often press flat shapes onto a window.

Lavender's Blue Homeschool puts the aim well: modeling in the early years is about the doing, not the finished figure. It's sensory play with something warm and sweet-smelling in the hand.

Why Waldorf schools use beeswax

Waldorf teachers often point to what the waiting asks of a child. The Waldorf School of Pittsburgh notes that beeswax "requires perseverance," because the wax must be worked before it will move. They describe the effect as "a soft calming effect." Play dough gives in at once. Beeswax asks the child to wait and keep going.

It's also hand work. The Pittsburgh school writes that modeling strengthens finger muscles and dexterity, which children use later for writing, finger knitting and sewing. Stockmar adds that kneading trains fine motor skills and that shaping a form asks a child to look closely.

And children love it. Simply Waldorf, a homeschool blog, describes the wax as smelling sweet and feeling "smooth and warm in the hand." On a grey November morning, that counts.

What age can children start?

Sellers of Stockmar's wax give slightly different ages. Bella Luna Toys lists it from 3 years, and Nest in Canada from 4. A reviewer on the Bella Luna page notes that children of 4 and under need help warming it.

The Parenting Passageway finds age 5 or 6 a good time to begin beeswax modeling in earnest. Before that, children get plenty of modeling from sand, mud, snow and bread dough. So a sensible plan is to let a 3 or 4-year-old play with a piece you've warmed for them, and bring it in as a regular activity at 5 or 6.

Is it good for toddlers? Not yet. The wax is hard, so toddlers can't warm it themselves, and small pieces are easy to put in a mouth. A lump of bread dough on baking day does the same work for a 2-year-old, and they can eat the result.

In the grades, beeswax often stays. The Parenting Passageway describes grades 1 to 3 children modeling letters and numbers in wax, and working on simple forms: round, hollow, flat and long. By grades 4 and 5, children want their animals to look real, and they'll need your encouragement more.

How to warm the wax

This is the part that surprises parents. A new strip of modeling beeswax is quite hard, especially in a cold house.

Stockmar's own advice is simple: take only the amount you need, warm it "in the palms of both hands," then knead. After a short time it becomes soft enough to shape into anything, even thin, fine pieces. Keeping the wax at room temperature helps. For small children, Stockmar suggests pre-warming it near a radiator or in warm water.

Some ways families do it:

1. Warm water in a bag. Nest suggests putting the wax in a plastic bag and setting it in a bowl of warm water for a few minutes. Keep the water warm, not hot.
2. A sunny windowsill. Nest also suggests a warm windowsill for a little while.
3. Under a shirt. Nest's other tip is for children to hold it against their skin, under their shirt. Children find this funny.
4. During a story. Give each child their piece before the story starts and let them hold it while they listen. Simply Waldorf suggests pairing modeling with a nature tale. By the end, the wax is ready.

Give each child a small piece, about the size of a walnut. A small piece warms faster, and a whole strip is too much for a 4-year-old's hands.

Making something from one piece

Waldorf teachers often ask children to shape a form out of one whole piece, rather than sticking bits together. A Waldorf Journey, writing about grade 3 clay work, says children are happier with the result when they "start with a whole piece" and push and pull it into shape. The same habit suits beeswax.

A good first sequence for a young child:

• Roll a ball between the palms.
• Press the ball into a flat round, like a small pancake.
• Roll a long snake, then coil it into a snail.
• Make an egg shape, then pinch out a head and a tail to make a bird.

The Parenting Passageway suggests simple balls and flat figures for window pictures before age 7. Sit down with your own piece and make these shapes yourself, slowly. Lavender's Blue notes that young children learn by imitation, and suggests keeping it low-pressure with the simplest shapes. There's nothing to correct.

Draw the modeling from whatever story you're telling. A snail after a rainy walk, a sheep at lambing time, a small figure for the nature table. In grade 1, children might shape the letter they learned that morning, though Earthschooling notes some find beeswax a hard material for letters because it's so firm. The grade 1 curriculum guide sets out the year's blocks.

Beeswax or clay?

Both are Waldorf modeling materials, and they feel quite unlike each other in the hand.

Beeswax is small and clean. It needs your child's warmth before it will change. Clay is cool and heavy, and a child works it with the whole arm. The Parenting Passageway says beeswax is usually preferred before grade 4, with clay used more from around age 9. It also says the use of clay below grade 4 is debated in Waldorf circles, and schools differ.

Some teachers even reach for clay in grade 1. Earthschooling shares one Waldorf teacher's view that clay may suit letter work better, because it's worked with the whole hand. So there's no single rule. For a 4 to 8-year-old at home, beeswax is the easy place to start, because it's tidy enough for the kitchen table. Bring in clay when your child is ready for bigger forms, or when you have a space you don't mind getting muddy.

Cleaning up

This is the good news. Stockmar says its modeling waxes "do not smear" and "do not crumble," and the colors don't bleed. Most of the time, hands need only a wipe and a wash with warm soapy water. Lay a cloth or a board on the table and you'll find little on it afterwards.

On clothes. If a piece gets pressed into fabric, let it harden first. The University of Georgia Extension's method for candle wax works for modeling wax too. Scrape off what you can with a dull knife, then press the fabric between white paper towels with a warm iron from the back. Move to a clean part of the towel as the wax lifts. If a colored mark remains, sponge it with 1 part rubbing alcohol to 2 parts water, testing a hidden spot first.

On carpet. Put an ice cube in a plastic bag on the wax to harden it, scrape gently, then iron through layers of paper towel with a warm iron, not hot.

Storing it

Stockmar recommends pressing used wax flat before you put it away, because flat pieces are easier to warm and use again. Keep each color in its own place, in a small tin or box at room temperature. The same wax lasts for years. Lavender's Blue mentions one pack lasting their family over three years, and Stockmar notes that anything modelled can be reused after it hardens.

If you're gathering supplies for the year, the Waldorf homeschool supplies list has modeling beeswax alongside crayons and paints. For kindergarten, Waldorf kindergarten at home shows where modeling fits in the week, and the best Waldorf kindergarten curriculum compares programs. Many families give modeling its own day, next to wet-on-wet painting on another.

A way to begin

Choose one morning a week for modeling. Warm a walnut-sized piece for each child in a bag of warm water, then hand it to them before the story. Tell a short story about a snail or a bird while they hold it. When the story ends, make one shape together from the whole piece. Afterwards, press each piece flat and put it back in the tin.