Mandalas

Mandala is the Sanskrit word for circle and is a form of art stemming from the Buddhist and Hindu traditions. A Mandala is a spiritual and ritual symbol that represents the universe and is meant to increase focus and strengthen meditation. These mandalas were created by middle school students by repeating a design to create radial symmetry. Students then outlined these designs with black sharpie and used colored pencils. We learned different techniques with the colored pencils- like blending colors, shading light to dark and creating smooth coverage. More advanced students were able to incorporate more detail into their patterning as well.

Here is a more detailed overview of the lesson which I wrote for the January 2017 issue of Arts & Activities magazine. You can read the digital version online by following the link below:

https://artsandactivities.com/my-kind-of-mandala/