It is no secret that I love loose parts play. I love creating art with loose parts. Grapat Mandalas have been extremely useful in providing details for my flatlays. In this post, I want to share how I started making Grapat Mandala templates.
A little background on Grapat
Grapat is a family owned business that encourages free play. They make wooden toys designed to spark curiosity, use fine motor skills, and provide hours of imaginative play.
Grapat toys are made primarily of beech or birch wood and it comes from sustainable forests.
They also use non-toxic paints and finishes to achieve colours often found in nature. The dyes, all water-based allow the grain of the wood to show through, which helps Grapat achieve their mission of connected children with nature.
Here is a list of authorized Distributors if you would like to purchase:
https://www.grapat.eu/en/dealers_eng/
What are Grapat mandalas?
Grapat mandalas are wooden loose parts pieces that offers endless ways to play with them. They are considered open-ended toys, which means toys that encourages children to use their imagination and creativity. There are no rules or expectations. It is play without and limit, rules, or boundaries.
Please note that Grapat mandalas are small pieces and are considered a choking hazard for younger kids. It is recommended for ages 3+.
What are some ways to play with Grapat Mandalas?
- Sorting – by color, shape and texture
- Patterning – make repeated patterns
- Math – Shape your pieces into the shape of numbers or use them as counters
- Pretend play – pretend food or rocks and pebbles for construction transport
- Create – make art with loose parts
Grapat Mandalas invite children to create mandalas, individually or in a collective. They can also be used to create pictures. They can also be used as pretend food for cooking or elements to transport.
Benefits of loose parts play
- Invitation to create
- Open-ended play
- Develops fine motor skills
- Problem-solving
- Counting resource
- Pattern recognition
- Special awareness
- Color recognition
Why did I start creating Mandala Templates?
One day, I saw my 4 year old staring into a basket of full of Grapat Mandalas and I asked him what’s the matter. He said he wanted to build like mommy, but it is was too hard.
That broke my heart.
This got me thinking to see if there is a way I can guide him so he can make something and have a sense of achievement. This is why I started making Mandala Templates.
These templates are designed to provide a little guidance and encourage your child to play loose parts while facilitating fine motor skills, color recognition, spatial awareness, and pattern recognition. It gives them a chance to match loose parts to the colors on the cards and ultimately see how the colorful parts come together to create beautiful pieces of art.
Template making process
I start by thinking of a theme and then I play around with the Grapat Mandalas and ensure it fits on standard letter size paper (8.5 x 11 inches).
After I am done with the design, I recreate it online and make a digital file. I print these out for my kids to test them. The things I look for is to see if things fit, or if it is too challenging. Once it pass my kid’s test, I put all the templates together for people to purchase and download.
Where to buy the templates?
You can buy my Grapat Mandala Templates HERE and on Etsy. Thank you for your support!