The Beauty of Children

This week I had the sincere privilege

to teach the art of Zentangle®

to my niece Amy's Second Grade class

at Hermitage Elementary!

You see Virginia Beach City Schools

had to add about a half hour each day

to their schedule to make up for

all the snow days they had taken!

(Virginia Beach and snow ... hard to believe!!)

Amy and I have been trying to schedule 

a Zentangle® time with her children for quite awhile

and this was the time!

I had never taught Second Graders before,

they are young to learn the process,

but I was willing to try and see how they did.

In fact, I was curious to see how they would do!

I have taught 4-6 graders before,

so this was going to be a learning experience

for the instructor (me) as well!

I created a sample Zentangle® during the week,

trying to have four tangles I thought

young children could draw,

and then tried to have stories 

they could relate too!

Static (Harry Potter's Scar)

Crescent Moon (little lady bugs)

Knightsbridge (checkerboard)

and Printemps (spirals going round and round)

I let them know that Zentangle®

was exercise for the brain!
It would be a small gift for their classroom.

Class Demo 

We started by taking three deep breaths

to calm them down after a very busy work day,

and talked about how breathing really

helps when they need to slow themselves down

How adorable they were ... concentrating on their breathing!

I was able to demonstrate on a

cool camera which projected onto a screen for the children to see,

something new for this teacher for sure!

We took the process step by step,

and as slowly as I could

(we only had an half hour to work with)

They did so good, my heart was so happy

to see them concentrating and drawing,

asking questions,

trying!

Concentration happening here!

When we finished our work,

we talked about an artist signing their work,

so they found a place they wanted on their work,

to sign either their name or initials.

We had time to come together 

and put our tiles in an ensemble,

and view each others work!

My heart skipped and leaped, truly!

We took a class picture,

just look at those little faces!

Our Classwork Ensemble!

Mrs. Watson's Second Grade Class

I left them some other things to work on,

and I challenged them to try this same tile again,

taking their time and learning even more.

What a joy it is for me to be with my niece,

teach precious children

and share the Zentangle® process with 

any age!
Mrs. Watson will be sending each child home with
their completed artwork and a certificate
from Zentangle®

Certificate sent home

I would say it was a lovely Wednesday afternoon,

and the fact that my little grandson Grayson,

got to come along with us,

and hang with the kids

and see his mama,

well there are no words to express
my happy heart!!!

Grayson and Lauren

Have a blessed week,

do something good for someone else,

think about positive things,

and share what you know ...

whatever that is!!!

Donna Lee