This art was actually done over the SG50 Jubilee long weekend but I didn’t have the time to blog on this till today! I just realised my pictures were being left unattended in the folder waiting to be posted out on a blog. Busy me finally able to squeeze out some time today to share what we did to create our little zentangle.
What is zentangle?
Zentangle, also known as tangle pattern, is a new form of unplanned art that is fun and relaxing to create. It’s relaxing because there is no upside or downside, no left or right. You just need to create beautiful images from repetitive patterns. Here’s an example of a zentangle art.
Picture was randomly grabbed from another website to show as an example here.
Why is it helpful for children?
As mentioned previously, zentangle involves repetitive patterns hence is really good for people who are struggling with focus and attention especially children. Children who struggle to stay focused can make use of this form of art to increase their attention span and ability to concentrate for longer periods of time. It also increases their creativity and it creates surprise for themselves! How can this not be fun when you give yourself a surprise?
Any other benefits?
Of course there are!
– It is inexpensive and the materials are so easily available. All you need is just pen and paper. If you want to add colours to it, just bring along markers or colour pencils.
– It is highly portable. You can bring it anywhere, anytime.
Bet with just these 2 points, is enough to make you get started easily. 😉
For my case, since we are doing it at home, we made it a little more exciting. Instead of just pen and paper, we did our zentangle on aluminium foil. You may have seen this on some websites, the final product is really cool. If you have not seen it? Don’t fret! We are going to make it happen here for you.
The materials we need are pretty simple and can be easily found in every household. All you need is a ball of yarn, tape, aluminium foil, cardboard, a pair of scissor and permanent colourful markers.
Next, cut out the edges of the cardboard to make the “teeth” so that your child can easily “affix” the string/yarn on the cardboard just like this. You can let your child do it but over here I did it because the kids hands got pretty sore halfway through. Sigh, them and their tofu hands -_-;
The “teeth” is to make sure the string/yarn not to move around freely. Can you spot the number on the cardboard? Maybe you can buy 4D ya?
Once the strings/yarn are attached to the cardboard. You may start dressing it up with the aluminium foil. When done, just use sticky tape to tape up the openings.
Flip it over to the other side and have your child pinch the string so as to make the creases more visible on the aluminium foil. This is the create the grids so that they can create pattern within it.
Once all the lines are visible, you can start creating your pictures within each grid! Is up to the child’s imagination and creativity to come up with their own design on each grid… that’s when they start focusing and concentrating too!
A moment of quietness and calmness in the house, that’s what I call zen… 🙂 Ok, time to clear my housework while they are “working”.
When you start to hear noises, you know they have completed their work. Here are their final products! What do you think? It may not be as fantastically good or artistic as Secret Garden but is good enough for me. I love the colours!
Like it? Love it? Don’t think anymore, let’s start tangling!