School menorah project not fire proof

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Forum -> Yom Tov / Holidays -> Chanukah

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amother

Sun, Nov 28 2021, 11:53 am

My 5 yr old son came home with his real menorah he made in school. He is super duper excited about it. It is made out of thin wood which he painted. The candles are supposed to go in the metal nuts that are glued on to the wood.

Am I the only mother wondering why the school thinks that a wooden menorah is okay for lighting, and not a tremendous fire hazard? As it is, I don’t understand how the candle burns down down down until it reaches the wood and hopefully goes out before it catches fire?

My poor son is so excited to light the menorah he has been making all week. (Yes, he will light a different menorah, but he will be disappointed.)

Why do I have to be the bad guy?

newmom1987

Sun, Nov 28 2021, 11:55 am

We use one like this every year. No problems yet. I would just keep an eye on it. Happy Chanukah.

Zehava

Sun, Nov 28 2021, 11:55 am

Yeah some of my brothers menorahs caught fire this way. There are ways to make it safer to light, such as covering the wood with silver foil.

simcha2

Sun, Nov 28 2021, 11:57 am

We once got a similar one home that had a sticker on it that said "not safe for candles" Banging head

. Don't they know kids are excited?

In the past I've glued pennies between the nut and the wood.

Shabbosiscoming

Sun, Nov 28 2021, 11:58 am

It's so disappointing for the kids! I would use it as a centerpiece for the table for the whole Chanukah and have him put in a new candle every night. He gets to light a safe menorah and still use his project. (Works especially well if you use Chanukah papergoods)

amother

Clover

Sun, Nov 28 2021, 11:58 am

Unfortunately I know of 2 bad situations that resulted from lack of care with menorah lighting. (One was a serious house fire, one was a child who got badly burned.) It's just not worth the risk.
Tell your son you will display as a decoration. You can also kindly and respectfully give feedback to the teacher/school so in future they realize the need to do different projects or use different materials.

amother

Chocolate

Sun, Nov 28 2021, 12:03 pm

amother [ OP ] wrote:

My daughter (in kindergarten) learned the word “flammable” and her Morah told them that they were putting tiles on the chanukiyot they made in school so they would be safe.

octopus

Sun, Nov 28 2021, 12:06 pm

Total pet peeve of mine. These school project menorahs are not meant for lighting. Nothing was like watching one of my kids menorahs on eighth night (it was fine first 7 days) go up in a literal fireball flame because the heat was too intense and one of the decorations on it caught fire. Good thing we always watch the candles. Good thing we have a smoke detector. We do not use projects anymore.

amother

Buttercup

Sun, Nov 28 2021, 12:14 pm

As a morah of 3-4 year olds, I refuse to take responsibility for burning someone’s house down! Chanuka protect is a laminated paper menorah on a beautiful background … with wooden popsicle stick “candles” to light with every night .

Your kid wants to light a real menorah? I’m sure you’ll figure it out - not on my cheshbon!

amother

DarkRed

Sun, Nov 28 2021, 1:24 pm

amother [ Buttercup ] wrote:

My toddler came home with an adorable one with colored clothespins to be "candles"

amother

Purple

Sun, Nov 28 2021, 1:28 pm

Can you remove the nuts and glue a penny underneath.

Really all candle menorahs need to be watched very carefully. Once saw candles in a metal menorah quickly melt the candles into a ball of wax and erupt into flames falling onto a wood sufave. It happened in a matter of seconds.
Someone walking outside saw it happen through the window. Ran in the unlocked door and put out the flames.

Roots

Sun, Nov 28 2021, 1:31 pm

I light them just because hes so excited
and we stay near them the whole time the candles are burning

honeymoon

Sun, Nov 28 2021, 1:33 pm

My son made it when he was younger. I covered the entire thing with silver foil and sat near it the entire time.

amother

Plum

Sun, Nov 28 2021, 1:43 pm

amother [ DarkRed ] wrote:

My toddler came home with an adorable one with colored clothespins to be "candles"

Do our children have the same Morah? Laugh

amother

Arcticblue

Sun, Nov 28 2021, 1:45 pm

Maybe make “fake” paper candles to put on it?

My son brought home a homemade menorah we used a few times. Last year one of the decorations on it caught fire! Luckily I was only a few feet away from it when it happened & quickly put out the flame.

zaq

Sun, Nov 28 2021, 1:54 pm

amother [ Purple ] wrote:

Really all candle menorahs need to be watched very carefully.

. This. Also oil if by candle you mean wax candles. Any flame in a house needs to be watched, be it Shabbos licht or boiling water for tea.

If you use glass oil cups and your flame is too high and touches the glass, it can shatter the glass.

Remember the exploding ready-made oil gel candles a few years back? The gel was formed by adding a compound that made the mixture burn much hotter.

One year I used the flimsy bent-aluminum jobs Chabad gives out , also sold in party stores and so on. The heat melted all the candles into a pool and the resultant conflagration was dramatic. Another year our preschoolers brought home menorahs of play doh, which we soon discovered are quite, quite combustible.

Fortunately I put each menorah on a metal tray or roasting pan, so the mess is confined and so were the fires.

Even a random spark from a crackling wick can set a curtain or tablecloth alight. And the more menorahs you have going the riskier the scenario grows. Use your half hour of “me time” to stay in the room and watch the lights, preferably with a fire extinguisher at your side.

You do know of course that you never use water on an oil or wax fire, yes?

mha3484

Sun, Nov 28 2021, 1:56 pm

I use them as decoration for the table. I make a big shtick about how nice it is and we can look at it while we at dinner.

keym

Sun, Nov 28 2021, 2:00 pm

I was so excited about my preschool son's menorah this year.
The Morah bought a tin menorah for each boy and they decorated it with permanent markers.
This way the menorah is officially fireproof, but I agree still needs to be watched especially the later days of Chanuka when there are so many candles.

amother

Blonde

Sun, Nov 28 2021, 2:01 pm

It's pretty normal. Just let them light anyways. The colorful candles don't last too long and you can monitor.

theoneandonly

Sun, Nov 28 2021, 2:42 pm

It drives me crazy. One year I said something to the morah so from then on she made the kids cover the menorah with electric tape. Come to think of it, I'm not sure if that actually makes it fireproof? But I guess it's better than wood and nuts like it had been previously.

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