MANDALAS OF AUTUMN

The trees are almost bare here in New England, but there are still various colors, sizes and textures abound. I encouraged the children to look beyond the typical maple or oak leaf for their Autumn mandalas.

It's not too late where ever you live. It can be made in all seasons, just use what is available to you.

What is a mandala?
" The word mandala is from the classical Indian language of Sanskrit, meaning circle or center. With circular patterns representing life and growth, they're found almost everywhere: in nature, contemporary design, science, and psychological and spiritual study.

 A mandala is an ancient symbol of wholeness, integration and transformation. Today, this art form endures as a tool for expressing the essence of our creativity."


We gathered our supplies of frosted contact paper, scissors, pencil, hole punch, yarn

 and our "nature finds" . . . 

and drew a circle on the contact paper, using the wall clock as our template. Any large circle will do, or even the use of a compass  . . . 

Then we arranged them (leaves, flower petals and grasses) around and within the circle on the contact paper.


Once arranged to our liking, we very carefully  covered them with another square of contact paper, putting the center down first and spreading it out to all sides gently with our hands to minimize any creases.


We cut out the circle . . . 

punched two holes a few inches apart and tied yarn to hang them.

Then we hung them in the window to thoroughly enJOY!

 Black Elk, Holy Man of the Oglala Sioux 1863-1950 said:

"Everything the power of the world does is done in a circle.The sky is round and I have heard that the earth is round like a ball and so are all the stars. The wind, in its greatest power, whirls.

Birds make their nests in circles, for theirs is the same religion as ours.

The sun comes forth and goes down again in a circle. The moon does the same and both are round. Even the seasons form a great circle in their changing and always come back again to where they were.

The life of a man is a circle from childhood to childhood, and so it is in everything where power moves. Our teepees were round like the nests of birds, and these were always set in a circle, the nation's hoop, a nest of many nests, where the Great Spirit meant for us to hatch our children." ~~  

The children also enjoyed an online mandala maker. 
You can play it here.

               happy day!