Make an easy Play Therapy Sewing Mandala with Play Therapy Clients

by Sand Tray Therapy Student
(Georgia)

When I first thought about how I would like to create my play therapy mandala I kept thinking about sewing. As a child my grandmother taught me how to sew. My grandmother would take any scrap materials she had from sewing and give it to my sister and me to make clothes for our Barbies.

I would sit with my grandmother and sew, and at times if I had nothing else to do, I would sew on my own. I have not used my skills in sewing in a while, other than to fix a torn stuffed animal or two of my son’s. So, when I had the thought to sew on the mandala, I acted on it.

I started out finding scraps of material I had in the house. Since I do not actively sew, I had very little. To compensate for the lack of material, I colored pieces of paper and sewed them on as well. I continued to make colors until I felt the colors were no longer interesting to me at that time. I then looked at the colors I had and thought about how the colors represent different parts of my personality.

I placed the red in the middle to represent my heart. I feel that I am a compassionate person who has a big heart. Not only do I care about my family and friends, but I am also very passionate about nature.

I chose red thread to sew the pieces on to a paper plate as a symbol of my blood running through the colors. Since each color represents me, I started the thread through the center of the red shape as my heart and pumped the thread into each shaped.

The animal print is a representation of my connection to animals in general. I am very passionate about the well being of animals and care for them deeply. The shades of brown are a continuation of my connection to nature. The brown is also like a tree trunk to me which makes me think of strength. I feel that I am a strong person by nature.

I placed the green as a symbol of my son. Green is his favorite color and every time I see it I think of him. Before I had him, I never considered owning anything green. Now, I love the color just as much as he does. By him coming into this world, I feel that my personality changed and I discovered more about what is really important in life. I chose blue because I see that as a color of hope and the future. I am always thinking about what will be next. If I am down, I try to think about those times as being temporary and the future will be different.

I placed purple on my play therapy mandala because I feel it represents family. I am very connected to my husband and son. They are part of what drives me to succeed and also bring much joy to my life. I placed the black shape on as a symbol of the dark times in my life. I feel every person has had some sadness in their life and it does shape who they are. When I have been down, or through rough times, it is the other colors in my life that have helped pull me through. I filled in any gaps between the shapes with the color yellow. This was to symbolize that in the end I am truly a happy person who is optimistic about life.

As an ending note of my play therapy mandala, my sewing pin is also a circle. It was made by a dear friend of my grandmothers. I never paid attention to the shape of it until now. I included a picture of it as well.

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