These loving-kindness mandalas combine creativity with meditation. Each ring in the mandala represents each step of a loving-kindness meditation.
Making this meditation into an art project helps kids actualize the more abstract concept of loving-kindness. When I did this with my girls’ class, the kids drew rainbows, infinity loops, leaves, hands for hugs and, of course, hearts at the center.
Materials
- Printed mandala sheets
- Colored pencils or markers
Instructions
- Starting with yourself, represented by the center of the mandala, send yourself a loving wish
- Next, radiate out kind wishes to people you love, like your family and friends
- Now send wishes to your community
- Next, send loving-kindness to difficult people in your life
- Finally, send kindness out to the entire world and even the universe
- Think about what best represents your kind wishes to each group of people you meditated on. For example, a loving-kindness wish to a friend might be hug; for the world, it might be peace
- Within each concentric circle, draw and/or color what best represents each loving-kindness wish for each group
The Science Behind the Smiles
Practicing a loving-kindness meditation helps us feel more connected to ourselves and others. According to one study, this can translate into a growth in personal resources, such as positive mindset, social support and decreased illness symptoms and stress.
this is a really beautiful project!
Thanks Malu! The kids loved it!! Hope you are well! xo
Could not bring up the template for thew loving kindness mandala.
Hi Bonnie. The template link is now updated!
The page’s address isn’t valid for the template. Anyway to rectify that? I’d love to share this activity and the template as part of a community project. Thank you!
Hi Laura,
Sorry about that! The link is now updated on the article. You can also find the template here: https://mindfullittles.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/Kindness-Mandala-Template.pdf