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    You are here: Home / Art and Crafts / Compass Art Mandalas: Round and Round We Go

     

    Compass Art Mandalas: Round and Round We Go

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    Mandalas are circular art forms that use symmetry and shapes to create pleasing, harmonious patterns. Creating mandalas with a compass is a fun way for kids to explore how math and art intersect.

    True, kid-made compass mandalas may not have the same precision as those created with the help of a computer or an experienced grown-up, but that shouldn't stop anyone from exploring the beauty of this compass geometry art project!

    Drawing compass on paper covered in penciled circles

    As you shall see, our compass art mandala activity was designed as a process art project. In other words, we were more interested in the exploratory process than the end result. That means this mandala project the way we did it is better for preschool and younger elementary kids than older kids exploring precise mathematical concepts. However, the video at the end of the post is an excellent resource should that be your goal!

    Compass Art Mandala Instructions

    Materials:

    • Compass
    • Pencil
    • Art supplies like markers, crayons, colored pencils, etc.
    • Paper. We upcycled some cardboard.

    Instructions:

    Place the compass point in the middle of the cardboard.

    The reason we used cardboard rather than construction paper was because its depth held the compass point steady, helping little hands make a complete and perfect circle.

    Draw as large a circle as the compass will allow.

    Child drawing with compass to create mandala art

    Once the initial circle has been made, without adjusting the compass, place the compass tip at a point on the circumference and draw an arc from once side to the other. Repeat as many times as you want

    Since this is a compass art project for kids, precision was not the goal. Exploration was the goal and instead of perfect arcs, my son just wanted to make more circles, intersecting them however he wished.

    That was A-OK by me.

    After drawing with the compass, the final step is making your mandala, or "psuedo-mandala," as the case may be, colorful.

    Use your art supplies and fill in the arcs, swishes, quadrants, semi-circles, whatever geometric shapes appear! Use whatever colors you wish. This is a process art project!

    Child coloring in compass art with crayons

    More geometry and shape art projects:

    • DIY shape book
    • How to make spirolaterals
    • Playful preschool geometry
    • How to make tessellations

    For reference, here is a great video showing how to draw a mandala with a compass. And yes, you can explore the process even when precision is the goal!

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    Comments

    1. MaryAnne says

      June 22, 2010 at 6:36 pm

      Lovely. And great idea to use a compass on cardboard so it doesn't slide around.

      Reply
    2. Raising a Happy Child says

      June 28, 2010 at 4:02 pm

      You know, I was thinking about completely different compass and was confused looking at the pictures. I was always wondering how this thing is called in English. I like how he colored the circles - really very pretty.

      Reply

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