Contest in conjunction with the 3rd Annual NTK Family Expo on Saturday, October 30 at the Plano Centre

For this year’s expo, we wanted to bring you a unique coloring contest that will educate kids about different cultural traditions and teach them (and maybe you) a simple technique for relaxation and stress relief. Coloring mandalas is a time-honored tradition in ancient cultures and modern workshops. See the end of this article for some online resources for the history of Mandalas and great, downloadable designs.

Mandalas on the Beach

We also wanted to bring an international flair to our 3rd Annual Family Expo. Ashraia is a locally owned organization that promotes the beautiful world of ART for a cause depicting an array of colors representing each season through  paintings, artistic clothing, wall hangings, beaded accessories, hand painted stoles, embroidered shawls etc. They will be bringing their beautiful wearable and decorative art to the expo, along with story times, dancers and more. You won’t want to miss their special appearance at this year’s event. For more information, visit them online at www.ashraia.com.

My cat helping to color mandalas!

The word “Mandala” is Sanskrit for “whole world” or “healing circle.” The tradition of creating sacred circles can be found in all cultures since the earliest times, especially in Buddhist, Hindu and Native American traditions, but also in Western traditions. The stained glass windows prevalent is many churches and cathedrals represent the form of the mandala as well.

Coloring a mandala can be a very empowering or stress-relieving experience for a child. Mandalas are calming, inspiring and symmetrical. Learning about mandalas will give your kids a sense of the links between cultures. Show your children examples of mandalas from around the world, using the links below. Mandalas are also great ways of teaching math concepts of angles, shapes, geometry and more.

For the art contest, your child can choose a design on the computer, print it out and color it, paint it, use a collage or any other format that they come up with. There is something very calming about designing and coloring the symmetrical patterns. Keeping our hands busy allows our hearts and minds to rest and to focus on the moment. This is a great way to calm a very active child. Children respond well to drawing mandalas once they understand that the goal is how long they can take and how slowly they can work. Drawing or coloring with your children is relaxing for both of you.

To submit the artwork, you can email a digital copy to info@northtexaskids.com, mail a copy to us at Scissortail Publishing, 700 E. Park Blvd., Ste. 110, Plano, TX 75074 or bring it with you to the expo. We will even have mandalas on hand to decorate while you are at the expo.

Please note that artwork will not be returned unless you provide a stamped, addressed envelope or come to pick it up at our office in Plano following the event.

Please make sure to include your child’s name, age and your name and contact information.

All artwork will be on display at the North Texas Kids Family Expo and may appear on our Facebook Fan Page or the www.northtexaskids.com website.

Grand prize: The winning mandala will appear on a future cover of North Texas Kids magazine. The artist will receive $100 and a gift basket valued at $100.00.

Questions: Call our office at 972-516-9070 or email info@northtexaskids.com

History and general information

Great gallery of images – http://bit.ly/brMfHb

General information and history - http://www.ehow.com/about_5456207_history-mandala.html

Using mandalas with kids – http://www.papermandalas.com/

A great story of a 5th grade class and their mandalas http://healing.about.com/od/mandalachildren/Mandalas_and_Children.htm

Free online mandalas to print and color:

Some nice designs – http://www.junemoon.com/free.html

Oodles of fun patterns – http://bit.ly/cgzbbz