Mandala Activity

I would like to begin this post by thanking Shen-Li for becoming my follower! I have to say I am honoured and thrilled that such a seasoned blogger in the field of early childhood development has found my novice journal worth visiting again.  I have been stalking Babylicious, one of Shen-Li’s own blogs, and I have to say it is my absolute favourite! This blog is well-known among supporters of early education and needs no promotion, but if for any reason you have not seen it yet and you would like to learn more about the most current ideas regarding parenting, do subscribe to it!

Shen-Li writes a lot about right-brain education, which is a fairly recent movement in early education and which has been attracting devotees all over the world. The information published on her blog is not easily available anywhere so you can be sure to learn something you have never heard of before.

Inspired by one of Shen-Li’s posts, I have come up with the idea of creating this versatile mandala activity.

I cut out a few different shapes out of cheap thin felt, which can be laid on top of one another on a white felt board (you can find the instructions on how to make a felt/flannel board here) to create numerous mandala patterns. I have started with very basic patterns for now but, depending on how well LM does with these, I might move her onto something a bit more complex.

This could make an activity as it is and you can let your very young child experiment by making his/her own patterns while practicing colour and shape names. However, if you would like to use it as a right-brain activity and strengthen your child’s photographic memory, then draw the black and white outlines of your patterns on paper, follow Shen-Li’s instructions and reuse these pieces time and again to create new combinations.

I have drawn a dozen easy mandala outlines containing basic shapes, which could be a place to start if your child, like mine, is completely new to this kind of activity. Feel free to download these here and use them as a size guide when cutting out felt shapes.

Bye for now!