Mandala Fun: Creating a Nature Mandala

The repetitive and structured nature of drawing mandalas can help calm the mind, providing a soothing and meditative experience that significantly reduces stress and anxiety, helping children feel more relaxed and secure. Additionally, drawing mandalas requires concentration and focus, diverting children's attention from distressing thoughts and memories. This mindful engagement fosters a sense of inner peace and stability, promoting overall emotional well-being. A mandala is a geometric shape that means “circle” in Sanskrit. It is a common design among many different cultures and often appears as the sun, moon, and earth. In Hinduism and Buddhism, a mandala is a symbol representing the universe and life. The circular design is meant to express the concept that everything is connected in life.

The following games can also be played with this educational poster:

• Mandala Fun: Complete the mandala

This game is part of the toolkit ‘Facing trauma - A toolkit on trauma-informed support for children and youth’. This toolkit is a cooperation between StreetSmart, Minor-Ndako, Save the Children Romania & SolidarityNow, cofinanced by the European Union. It provides simple tools to explore important topics like trauma, stress, self-care and emotions in a way that’s easy to use with different target groups.

Source: https://sproutingwildones.com/creating-a-nature-mandala/

• All players can collaborate and make one big nature mandala together.
• You can organise a nature mandala exhibition and explore everyone's nature mandala once they're ready.
• Instead of using organic materials, you could also use chalk and draw a big mandala on a local square or pavement.

Recognizing and creating patterns