First and second grade students have just started creating Mindful Mandalas today. With this time of year being so busy, I find it the perfect opportunity to teach mindfulness through art. At circle, we learned about both mandalas and mindfulness. Then, students went to work focusing solely on their task at hand: creating a mandala. The atmosphere was incredibly peaceful. Students worked by candlelight (electric, of course) with soothing music playing softly in the background.
At the end of class, we reflected upon what doing art mindfully felt like. Many children commented that they felt calm and happy. Several students noticed that their minds tended to wander. A handful of children were really impressed with what they could accomplish when wholly focused. We will continue our mindfulness practice and mandala creation through the next few weeks.
