Mandala coloring pages

A mandala repeats one shape around a circle, and these twelve begin with shapes children already know. Six wide petals ring a small center, eight pointed stars sit with beads between them, hearts face outward from a circle of dots, twelve leaves fan from one flower, six butterflies meet wing to wing, and a sun and a crescent moon share the same circle. The other half is denser: roses in four layers, shells and fish in a sea ring, six woodland animals looking outward, pure geometry with no faces in it, twelve long feathers, and a garden band of tulips and bees.

The petal circle and the star circle have the fewest lines and the widest gaps, so a child of three has somewhere to put a crayon. The roses and the geometric rings hold an older child for an hour and suit a sharp pencil better than a marker. Work outward one ring at a time and give each ring a single color. That is what makes the finished circle look ordered rather than busy, and it stops the middle being colored three times while the rim stays bare.