When your echo-chamber art room contains 26 first graders, the walls are FAR from sound-proof, and fifth graders are standardized testing in the adjacent computer room…you’d better have a plan. My plan last May was nature mandalas.
This group collected then opened large pods to obtain seeds.
I loved this project and am adding it to my first-grade curriculum for many reasons:
- It offered an alternative “art room” and expanded students preexisting definitions of “canvas” and “art supplies.” I started class by asking: “What materials are needed to create art?”
- It involved STEAM vocabulary, planning, and execution. Students began with a center point, and designed patterns in concentric circles around it.
- Students collaborated to: collect materials, plan, and design. I used groups of three.
- The kids discovered that photographs preserve otherwise temporary art.
- The project is easy to do at home and gets kids outside! I challenged my students to create mandalas in their backyards or while camping, with the materials that are available to them. There are many beautiful outdoor mandala examples online, and I projected a few to inspire them—including gorgeous mandalas made with flower petals. (We only had dandelions available!)
I am not the only one who enjoyed this project. My students also loved it, and my greatest reward was when they created new mandalas during recesses…even inspiring students who had not done the project to get involved.
UPDATE: It’s Spring of 2020, and the flowers are blooming. With COVID-19 isolation, I thought a scavenger hunt and outdoor Mandalas would make a great remote teaching lesson, so I made a video for my students, below. Plus…I have always wanted to try one with flowers…
