How to Create a Nature Mandala | Kids Flower Art

Mindful Playtime For Kids- Building Floral Mandala from Nature Scavenger Hunt

Every time kids dive into an art project, they naturally draw inspiration from nature—you just have to look closely. My daughter once made a pizza out of mud without being taught. Sometimes, she places twigs on flour and walks in between them, pretending they are steps. Every time she goes to the farm, she comes up with a new idea. Like a mother, nature is always connected, and it doesn’t need to be introduced. Seeing how naturally she connected with the outdoors, I thought, why not add more activities involving nature? That’s how I started guiding her to create a Nature Mandala. Here’s step by step guide on how we made floral mandala art on the backyard.

Materials Needed

Creating Nature Flower Mandala Art in outdoor doesn’t need any rigid list of things. You can pick from:

Leaves, berries
Flowers, buds, petals
Twigs, sticks
Feathers, shells
Weeds
Stones or pebbles

What is a Nature Mandala

Nature Mandala is one of the ancient art forms rooted in Hinduism and Buddhism, designed to cultivate mindfulness, spark creativity, improve focus, and build patience. It’s a soothing, meditative activity. With our kids’ minds always crammed with academic lessons competing for space, a mindful break like this nature mandala art for kids is the perfect breather, don’t you think?

How To Create a Nature Mandala Art

Step 1 : Go For Nature Hunt

To start with, just go for a simple Nature hunt around with a little basket. In our case, we went to backyard for picking flowers and leaves.

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Step 2: Gathering Colorful Flowers & Leaves

Our hunt started by gathering wild daisies — those cheerful little weeds scattered all over our kitchen garden.

Step 1: Gathering flowers for creating nature mandala Art

Next, we went after butterfly pea flowers. You probably know them from their role in making tea or natural blue dye.

Then, we picked pink oleander flowers and peach-hued hibiscus flowers from the big shrubs in our backyard.

Finally, we end up collecting flowers in multiple colors from vibrant yellows, soft pinks, bright blues, to even a delicate peachy-sandal shade—our tiny basket started filling up.

We also picked leaves with curved bases and sharp edges — anything that would add character to the design.

Step 2: Gathering leaves for creating nature mandala

Step 3: Give Instructions

While we are collecting the flowers, we saw a big, bright yellow pumpkin flower blooming on the corner. My daughter run towards it, excited to pick, but I gently stopped her. I explained that it’s a fruit-bearing flower, and plucking it would cost us a pumpkin!

Give instructions for floral hunt to create nature mandala

So it is essential to give instructions not to pick fruit-bearing flowers to kids before going for the flower hunt!

Unexpected Encounter: As we spoke, we noticed two honeybees buzzing around the pumpkin flowers. What a perfect teachable moment! I explained how pollination works and how these tiny bees play a massive role in keeping our earth’s ecosystem running.

Spotted beehive during nature hunt — Look at a honeycomb in our garden, a gentle friend to the flowers we gather

Step 4: Choose a Ground Space

Pick a safe, flat surface or clear ground space to create a mandala.

Step 5: Start Nature Mandala From Centre

Start with a focal point in the middle by placing a flowers, or stone. We kicked off with the wild daisy placed right at the center of our mandala and next, by vivid blue butterfly pea flowers.

Step 4: Starting from centre of nature mandala with flowers

Step 6: Create More Layers

Make rings around the center using different flowers from natural treasures. Our ring was built using pink oleander flowers, followed by the peach-hued hibiscus flowers and buds, arranged outwards.

Step 5: Adding more flowers to nature mandala art

Step 7: Fill The Gaps

Use tiny leaves, petals, or seeds to fill gaps and create patterns, making your mandala colorful. We filled the mandala ends with a ring of green leaves.

Step 6: adding leaves to the nature mandala art

Step 8: Step Back & Adjust

Observe the mandala from above. Adjust for symmetry and balance.

nature mandala art made with flowers and leaves

Just when we were admiring our finished nature mandala art, an unexpected guest arrived—the wind. It gently blew, and unfortunately, the leaves couldn’t hold on. Seeing her disappointment, I suggested we could place small stones over the leaves to keep them from flying away. But she had a better idea. Her eyes scanned the backyard and landed on a small unused clay Diya lamp lying nearby. She picked it up and gently placed it over the outer layer of leaves.

It not only secured them but added an earthy design element to the mandala.

Kid making nature mandala art in backyard

The Diya added a unique charm to the mandala, transforming a small mishap into an even more creative outcome.

Step 9: Look & Enjoy The Nature Mandala

Step back and see your beautiful creation! Take a photo if you want to keep it forever.

This is our nature mandala art, the real flower mandala shaped from nature, thought, and joy.

My daughter stood back, proud of her little masterpiece — a nature mandala art made entirely from what the garden offered us. It wasn’t just a simple craft anymore; it became little piece of art born out of play, observation, and problem-solving. No store-bought toy could bring out this level of imagination and joy.

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Mindful Play Tips

Take your time, notice colors and shapes.
The process is more important than the final mandala.
Make it a rainbow, a heart, or any pattern you like!
You can make mandala as themes: seasonal flowers, autumn leaves, or rainbow colors.

Why You Should Try Nature Mandala Art with Kids

This entire activity didn’t need any fancy toys or tools—just flowers, leaves, soil, and a curious mind. The joy she experienced in creating something of her own using elements from nature is unmatched. As parents, we often search for creative activities for kids, but sometimes, all they need is a little freedom outdoors.

What Are The Benefits of Nature Mandala

Mindfulness & Relaxing
Observation Skills
Creativity and Artistic Expression
Pattern forming
Problem-Solving
Focus and Patience
Emotional connection with nature

FAQs

How to make an easy mandala for kids

For an easy nature mandala, gather leaves, flowers, and stones, make a circle on the ground, and arrange the items in simple, repeating patterns. For an easy drawn mandala coloring pages, draw a circle, divide it into sections, and fill each section with simple, repeating shapes.

How to explain mandala for children

Create or draw a small mandala with your kids using colors, shapes, or natural items they love. They will gradually learn patterns and symmetries in mandala, end up creating their own mandala art.

More Nature-Inspired Activity Ideas

If your child enjoyed creating a nature mandala art, here are a few more simple yet delightful activities you can try together:

Play Dough Activities — Things found in nature for nature color scavenger hunt

Kids Vegetable kitchen Garden — Things found in nature for nature color scavenger hunt

Explore Nature-Inspired Activities Archive

So, next time you’re out for a nature walk or working in your garden, I encourage you to pause and explore nature’s little treasures with your kids. You’ll be surprised at how much joy lies in these simple moments.

Try it this weekend. You might just find your child creating a masterpiece in the middle of your backyard.

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