Mandalas

Materials:
- 12" x 12" White Drawing Paper
- Colored Pencils or Markers
- Pencil
- Ruler
- Mandala Examples

1. Fold paper in half. It doesn't matter which way (hot dog or hamburger) since it is a square. Fold in half the other way and then diagonally across the corners. You should end up with 8 separate triangles.

2. In one triangle only, decorate with symbols, pictures, lines, patterns. I tell my students to try and avoid tiny details because it will be a pain to duplicate seven more times.

The first year I did this, I made this into an identity mandala, asking the students to depict at least seven symbols about who they are. Over the years I started letting them do a theme if they'd like, like outer space, the ocean, snowboarding, etc.

3. Fold paper on one of the creases to the side of the drawn triangle and rub hard with a ruler.

I explain to the students to hold with one finger towards the bottom because there is more applied pressure that way. Rather than dividing the pressure with the length of the ruler (as if they were rubbing on its side) or with their hand way at the top, where there is more strength when handling towards the bottom.

4. When you lift, you should see a reflection of what was originally drawn. If it is too light, you may have to darken your lines more or press harder.

 5. Trace again with pencil and repeat all the way around.

6. Color!