Celebrating
the wonder of the universe
This project
took place at a Unitarian Universalist church in Milton, Massachusetts
during the one hour children's programming in the spring of
2001.
For three
weeks before our "Happy Birthday-Universe Focus" occurred,
the 3rd through 8th graders were divided at random into three
groups. Each group walked our canvas labyrinth, prepared group
mandalas using the process described on The Mandala Project
website, and made personal mandalas during the three weeks.
We talked about microcosm to macrocosm in nature, walked the
labyrinth with a meditation on finding our personal gifts, and
used those two ideas to prepare personal mandalas.
We used
pictures of nature and natural objects and showed the children
mandalas from the book, Mandalas of the World, by Rudiger
Dahlke. We emphasized two of our Unitarian Universalist sources,
that of science and nature and wonder and awe, and celebrated
our place as part of the Universe.
We had about
50 children participating over the three weeks. The finished
group mandala was displayed on our bulletin board and the individual
mandalas were hung as part of the final church service for the
project. Several of the children commented that this part was
their favorite activity during the year.
