How-to Mandala Guides & Coloring Pages for Older Elementary School Students, Middle Schoolers, & Adults

Mandalas & Coloring Pages:

Geometry Instruction & Stress Relief

Evelyn Smith

M. S. in Library Science, University of North Texas (2012)

Creating mandelas can put both students and adults in a mellow mood while at the same time sneaking in some geometry instruction.

Ali, Beth. (2008). Lesson plans with mandalas. Mandala Colors. Retrieved from http://mandalacolors.com/learning/lesson-plans/mandalas-in-education/

Mandalas can be used to expose students to the history and religions of Tibet and India as well as a means to teach geometric concepts. The video that accompanies this lessons shows Buddhist monks creating a sand mandela.

Four radical design mandela lessons. (n. d.). Incredible Art Department. Retrieved from http://www.incredibleart.org/lessons/middle/Larry-radial.htm

Lesson plans give instructions, procedures, and inspirations.  Moreover, since there are four lesson plans included in this blog page, teaching how to create mandelas can be geared to different levels of difficulty.

The goal in the mandela. (n. d.). Creativity Resource for teachers. Denver Art Center. Retrieved from

http://creativity.denverartmuseum.org/?lesson-plan=the-goal-in-the-mandala

Lesson plans help students link their own creativity to Hayagrive sand mandelas.

Kautzman, Kellen. (2012, April 5). Mandala art activities: Lesson plan with handouts. Bright Hub. Retrieved from http://www.brighthubeducation.com/middle-school-lesson-plans-the-arts/79898-mandala-art-lesson-and-activity/

Lesson stresses that mandelas are a form of meditation used by Buddhists and Hindus in India.

Mandala art lesson. (n. d.). Pinterest.com. Retrieved from https://www.pinterest.com/explore/mandala-art-lesson/

Pinterest provides tutorials and all kinds of help on teaching students to create their own symmetrical, geometric mandelas. Also of interest are links for art therapy and meditation.

Mandala geometry lesson plans. (2016). Crayola. Retrieved from

http://www.crayola.com/lesson-plans/mandala-geometry-lesson-plan/

Group project lesson plan instructs students on how to plot a mandala design on graph paper, making each student in a team of four responsible for creating the symmetry in one of the mandela's four quadrants.

Mandalas, polygons, and symmetry. (2014). ArtsEdge. The Kennedy Center. Retrieved from https://artsedge.kennedy-center.org/educators/lessons/grade-6-8/Mandalas_and_Polygons

Videos help math instructors [as well as art teachers] apply geometry skills to the design of mandelas.

McArdle, Thhaneeya. (2015). Step-by-step instructions on howto create a mandela. Art-is-fun.com. Retrieved from http://www.art-is-fun.com/how-to-draw-a-mandala/

McArdle provides step-by-step instructions on how to draw a mandela while stressing that designing a mandala symbolizes the state-of-mind that the artist would like to achieve (McArdle, 2015, para. 9).

Therapeutic Coloring Pages

& the Theory Behind Them

Coloring could be a warm-up activity.

Coloring for teens: Coloring books for older students. (2015, July 13). For High School Counselors. Retrieved from http://forhighschoolcounselors.blogspot.com/2015/07/coloring-for-teens-coloring-books-for.html

Web page discusses how coloring can benefit students who are depressed, anxious, or angry. It also notes how different color choices reflect the students' moods, and it provides a whole list of coloring pages especially for teens.

Curry, Nancy A. and Kasser, Tim. (2005). Can coloring mandelas reduce anxiety. Art Therapy: Journal of the American Art Therapy Association, 22(2), pp. 81-85. Retrieved from http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ688443.pdf

When researchers randomly ask university undergraduates to either color in a mandela, a complex plaid pattern, or draw with crayons on a blank sheet of paper, they find that either coloring in a mandela or a plaid pattern relieves about the same degree of stress. They thus hypothesize that coloring a complex geometric design may induce a meditative state (Curry 2005, Abstract, p. 81).

Dovey, Dana. (2015, October 18). The therapeutic science of adult coloring books: How this childhood past time helps adults relieve stress. Under the Hood. Medical Daily. Retrieved from

http://www.medicaldaily.com/therapeutic-science-adult-coloring-books-how-childhood-pastime-helps-adults-relieve-356280

Dovey delves into the tangible results of therapeutic coloring, helping fidgeting students focus and relieving stress for both middle school and high school students as well as adults confronting stressful life changes.

Schneider, Ellyn. (n. d.). Anti-stress. Middle school art printables. Pinterest.com. Retrieved from https://www.pinterest.com/pin/274508539763697769/

Schneider provides pages and pages of coloring pages for “adults and older kids”.