Mandala

A mandala is a spiritual and ritual symbol in Hinduism and Buddhism. The original mandala is of sanskrit origin and appears in the Rig Vida. The mandala is a representation of the universe. It also is a representation of the artists connection with the world and what makes their own universe. This is a good project for children to begin off with to have inner reflection and figure out what makes their universe? The symbols children choose can be representational or literal, but need to reflect their inner self, with the most important in the middle. A couple other rules are that A mandala is composed of a circle and four gates (square encasing the circle), and usually moves in a radial symmetry. For my project I decided to have more representational art depicted and chose the following symbols:

Rose- to represent those important to me in my life: God, Family and Boyfriend.

Sun- to represent joy, after I was diagnosed with depression I have tried to get out more because it makes me feel better and the sun reminds me to choose joy.

Rain- to represent life, rain continually renews the earth and gives us new life, just like forgiveness which is important to me in my life

Nature- to represent my spiritual side

Roots- to represent my family and where I have come from- where I am rooted

Nerves- to represent my body and how it alters my life

Circle within a square- throw back to Leonardo Di Vinci and the idea of earth and university and connecting all knowledge

Stain glass windows- to represent my love of art history and art

This is my mandala that I created but I am going to urge you to research more before you have your children do this project so they understand the cultural aspect of the project more and understand why it is important to many people in the world.

Here is a tutorial on how to do the mandala at Fresh To the Idea of Art: How To: Mandala Step-by-Step: