This month, Lindsey Bowkett (@MissBowkett) and I have been challenging ourselves to draw a mandala a day in May. We both wanted to get back into the swing of making art regularly, and when Lindsey coined the hashtag #Maydala, we were off!
We have been delighted to have been joined on the journey by many other maths teachers across Twitter – here are some of their wonderful designs. For even more marvellous mandala mayhem, do check out the #Maydala hashtag!
Mandalas are rich in mathematics (circle geometry, reflective and rotational symmetry), and provide useful practice with geometry tools including rulers, compasses and protractors. Several teachers have asked how to introduce the activity to their students, so I have decided to collate the ideas and resources from my original twitter thread here.
The word ‘mandala’ means ‘circle’ in Sanskrit, and mandalas have a deep spiritual or cosmic meaning in many cultures and traditions. For our #Maydala purposes, a mandala is any circular design exhibiting pattern and symmetry.
Mandala making is accessible to all. The repetitive nature of these designs means that drawing them can be a wonderfully absorbing and meditative process, and it's a process that results in stunning geometrical patterns - bonus!
Designs can be drawn entirely freehand, or using a mixture of freehand and compass/ruler construction, or solely compass and ruler construction. Anything goes! Some participants are even using technology or origami to make their mandalas, with stunning results:
So, how do you get started? These Wikihow instructions are really clear and easy to follow:
And this set of video tutorials from Kathryn Costa (@100mandalas) are very useful too.
Lindsey (@MissBowkett) has made a series of lovely timelapse videos showing her process, such as this one:
My first ever time lapse video ... #Maydala @c0mplexnumber #Mandala #MandalaArt #Mindfulness pic.twitter.com/nkyqhPD4Mp
— Miss Bowkett (@MissBowkett) May 14, 2020
And Miss Konstantine (@giftedHKO) made this set of instructions for a fabulous cube mandala, which Becky Warren (@becky_k_warren) followed to make her version, coloured in with colouring pencils, below.
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But there are lots of other things you can do too!
How about making a mandala from objects around the house, or from things found on a walk outside? The artist James Brunt (@RFJamesUK) makes fabulous designs from found objects, or from the contents of his junk drawer!
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Or if you have a pebble collection you could get creative and add some dotty colour. Check out this totally scrumptious work by the artist Elspeth McLean!
If you’ve got a Spirograph set gathering dust in a cupboard somewhere then this is the perfect excuse to dust it off and get spiralling. Metallic pens add that extra bling!
Fancy giving your compasses a workout? Islamic geometric patterns begin with a single circle, and are some of the most beautifully proportioned patterns in the world. Check out Samira Mian's (@samira_mian) Youtube channel for some clear and easy-to-follow tutorials. Here is a lovely circular pattern perfect for a mandala!
So, a plethora of resources and ideas to help you get started! If you post your finished artwork on Twitter, be sure to use the #Maydala hashtag. You can use it any time of the year - why not?!
