Art Lesson Plan for Kindergarten Through Third Grade: Mandalas

Outcome: To learn about symmetry.  To re-enforce the concept of creating halves and quarters of a whole, and to show a repeated pattern in the round, instead of a linear repeated pattern.

Materials: white typing paper, 8 ½ by 11 that is thin enough to see a black line drawing through with a perfect circle drawn or copied onto the paper, one for each student.  Card stock quarters of the same circle that was on the paper, one for each student. Pencils. Black drawing pens or fine tipped markers, and either markers, crayons or colored pencils to color the design.  Scissors, glue and black or a dark neutral color of paper to mount mandalas on.

Art History:  Show some mandalas from the middle east (Moroccan architecture and tiles are a good resource) and mandalas from the far east, such as what can be found in many eastern religions.   A resource for free mandala coloring pages on the web would be http://www.123coloring.com/digits-and-forms/coloriages,mandalas,mandalas-11-a-22.html

There is a good page on mandala art at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mandala

with a little bit of back ground and terminology.

Finished Product: A mandala to hang in the room.

Steps:

1. Introduce project with poster or other examples of mandalas.  Talk about the repeated patterns and whole, half and quarter.  Have children look at and talk about what things they see repeated and how many times it is repeated in the circle.  Talk about where each piece is from and how they were used-to meditate on, to add peace to a space, etc.
2. Show a quarter of the circle, and show how to lay it on the circle, holding it carefully.  Using a pencil and the quarter circle as a stencil, draw the straight lines on the quarter circle.  Pick up the stencil and lay it against one of the previously drawn lines to form a half circle, and again trace the line.  Pick up the stencil and repeat again, forming four quarters.  They may not be perfect, but that is okay.
3. Pass out pencils, paper and quarters.  Write name on the back of the paper and the quarter in pencil.
4. Have the children do step 2, following along each quarter again with them.
5. Show quarter of circle again.  On that circle draw on line (squiggly, straight, whatever) going from one side of the quarter to the other, either up and down or side to side.
6. Pass out the pens and have the children make a line.  Put down pens.
7. On the teachers example, place two to four shapes anywhere on the quarter circle with the black pen.
8. Have the children make two to four shapes on their quarter, not more than four so that tracing it will be possible, but more than two for interest, using the black pen.  Put pens down.
9. Next, demonstrate putting the stencil quarter underneath the circle on the paper and lining it up with one of the quarters penciled in.  Have the children do this and quickly check to make sure they are lined up correctly and everyone understands what it is they are supposed to be doing.
10. Showing how to carefully hold the stencil still, trace the black lines seen through the paper onto the circle using the black pen.  Remove stencil and show the children the result.  Have the children then do the same, reminding that they need to hold the stencil still under the paper to trace it and to take their time.
11. Repeat until all four quarters of the circle are filled with design.
12. Color the mandala using the same colors for each quarter, to enforce the symmetry. 
13. Pass out scissors and have the children cut out the mandala.
14. Pass out glue and black paper and have the children mount their mandala for display.  Enjoy!