Mandala coloring pages, a powerful tool for art therapy
Have you ever wondered why mandala coloring pages are such a powerful tool for art therapy? Learn three art therapy techniques today and get the tools you need to get mentally healthy during the holidays.
It’s been a crazy 2020 year for you and for your students, but no matter what your highs and lows have been, you can make this Christmas the best Christmas ever! We’ve got some spectacular Christmas posters that you can use to decorate your classroom, your bulletin board, or your door. You can even take them home if you want to. 🙂
How to use Mandala Coloring Pages and Christmas Coloring Pages for Art Therapy
But before I give you a preview of these poster printables, I want to chat with you a little bit about how our posters and mandala coloring pages can help your students deal with some of the mental health issues your students might be facing.
1. Draw or color mandalas pages.
Coloring or drawing on a repeated pattern, like the ones used in adult coloring books that have become so popular in the last few years, actually help regulate emotions and the nervous system. Dr. Patti Gail Henderson explains how coloring or drawing mandalas can be used as a form of emotional healing. Click here to read her article.
Our Christmas posters aren’t mandalas, but we have included black and white prints so students can color or paint them, with the same purpose in mind–calming the emotions and the nervous system.
2. Draw or color to affirm emotions.
This goes both ways – for both negative and positive emotions. For negative emotions, I think it’s really important to affirm that it’s not wrong to feel anger, frustration, or depression. The important thing is to discover the right way to deal with it. For positive emotions, I think it’s really important to celebrate them. It’s easy to take the good things for granted, but if we practice celebrating the good things, our perspective shifts, and we can get our joy back.
Negative Emotions
You can invite students struggling with anger or depression to express those emotions by drawing symbols, designs, pictures, images (anything that comes to mind) that is associated with those negative emotions. When they’re doing, they can either save their negative emotions artwork in a folder (this legitimizes the idea that it’s okay to have negative emotions) or they can rip them up and throw them away (this focuses on overcoming – freedom to vent and express and freedom to move on).
Positive Emotions
Themes like joy, peace, and love are dominant Christmas themes. You can use some of our blank Christmas posters to allow students to color or paint them. Use the projects as a conversation starter to talk about what brings them joy and peace. Ask them what makes them feel loved and ask them how they can show love to others especially during the Christmas season.
Check out our mandala coloring pages and Christmas posters. Click on image to purchase.
3. Make nature art.
Connecting with nature is a great way for students to just stop and take a breath. Sandi Schwart, the Happy Science Mom, explains about the benefits of nature and art. You can read her blog article Why Nature Drawing and Nature Painting For Kids Are Powerful Relaxation Tools.
“Art has been scientifically proven to reduce stress levels, so much so, that an entire discipline of art therapy has been developed. Art is a way of tapping into the right side of the brain where creativity, intuition, visualization, emotions, and daydreaming stem from.”
Sandi says that when students do art work, they tap into “the right side of the brain where creativity, intuition, visualization, emotions, and daydreaming stem from.” Some of the ways that art helps reduce stress and boost mood include: distraction, flow, mindfulness, and self-care.
Distraction. An important tactic in managing anxiety is to distract ourselves from what is tormenting our minds. Art is a great way to focus on something more positive, productive, and inspiring.
Flow. Artists can become so absorbed in their work that they achieve a state of flow, the sense of being completely engaged in an activity to the point of being in a near-meditative state. When we are in a state of flow, we forgot about all of our thoughts and lose track of time.
Mindfulness. When we are focused on an art project, we become completely absorbed into the present moment. This helps to quiet the mind as we become more concerned with doing the task at hand as completely and mindfully as we can and less concerned with judging and relating to things beyond the immediate context.
Self-care. Having a hobby that we enjoy helps us feel more balanced and allows for mental and emotional downtime. If you or your child are struggling with mental health issues and need some extra help, then consider contacting a therapist to guide you.
These are some of the projects Sandi recommends:
- Mindful Coloring – similar to what we discussed earlier about mandalas but she focuses on coloring books with landscapes, flowers, trees, and animals.
- Nature Art Photography – students can take their own pictures of nature objects, and the photography serves as a mindfulness meditation as we get lost in the moment while taking pictures.
- Nature Art Drawing – Sandi recommends Lee Foster-Wilson’s book The Grown-Up’s Guide to Making Art with Kids for nature drawing inspiration. You could include ideas from the book in projects for your classroom or as gift ideas for parents so students can do these projects at home during Christmas break.
- Nature Art Painting – You can use items like pine cones, poinsettias, evergreen branches, snowflakes (real or fake) to create mixed media art projects with a Christmas theme. What We Can Do With Paper and Glue has some great ideas for Christmas nature crafts.
Purchase Mandala Coloring Pages Today
- Click on the image to purchase our mandala coloring pages and Christmas posters bundle.
