For Children Who Find Comfort in Repetition: The Possibilities of Zentangle®

I am, as you may (or may not?) know,
a Certified Zentangle Teacher (CZT).

I am currently recommending Zentangle as an easy way to start
accompanying the 'me-time' of busy adults!
'Me-time'... it's important. Yes.

However.
That is not the only reason I obtained my CZT certification.

The reason I obtained my instructor certification (CZT)

Zentangle is a method of drawing simple lines
by repeating the same strokes.
And before you know it, a single piece of art is complete.
It is that kind of art method🎨

If you can draw the letters i c o s, you will be fine.
As you repeat the process, your mind calms down,
and you can focus.

…Does that mean…?

That was, for me, half a conviction.
There are standard procedures I teach as an instructor,
such as the eight steps of Zentangle,
but I thought it might be okay to change the way I do things
in my own way to suit children.

I was even thinking about things like that.

It seems like it could even help cultivate a little bit of concentration,
and above all, they can experience a sense of accomplishment!

That is why I thought I wanted to become an instructor myself
and share it!!

However... there was a big problem here.

Many people don't even know what 'Zentangle' is in the first place,
so I have been thinking for a long time about how to expand its reach.

When you take action, you connect, you open up

I connected on note through the topic of 'school non-attendance' with
Chabohachi-san (hereinafter Chabo-san)

Chabo-san has visited my Space before,
and she is a "genuine mom" living in the same Kansai region (lol).

Even just reading the articles she writes,
her powerful personality comes through clearly.
I was laughing the whole time during the Space, too! 😊

From talking about where we live,
I had actually been thinking for a while that
it's a distance where we could meet if we wanted to.

That was when I received a message from Chabo-san.
She said she wanted to take my "Zoom Zentangle Lesson."
(Together with Janet-san ✨)

She said she originally liked drawing,
and after seeing my articles about Zentangle,
she became interested.

We set up a private session to draw together on Zoom from the morning.
A relaxing, calm holiday...
It was the complete opposite of that (lol),
a fun time spent drawing while chatting away! 😊

And just as we were finishing up,
without either of us starting it,
the topic turned to whether Zentangle
might be good for children with special needs.

Turning thoughts into reality: A chance for a challenge

Chabo-san
works at an [After-school Day Service].

She has written about that topic
in her articles several times before.

There are many children there
who have developmental characteristics.

The reason Chabo-san participated in
my Zentangle lesson this time
was partly because she was genuinely interested, but
she was also thinking about whether she could apply itto her activities at the day service.

Chabo-san is a certified Vision Training specialist.
Just as she was thinking about how to further utilize her own qualifications,
it seems Zentangle caught her eye.

I was incredibly happy.

Zentangle, which is drawn with repetitive strokes.
"I thought I'd try learning it once myself
and incorporate something similar," Chabo-san told me.
The feelings I had been holding onto for so long

came overflowing out.

Having thought about this thoroughly until now,
all that was left was to put it into action!

Suddenly, the opportunity
jumped right in front of me.

Of course I'm going to do it!!

With a speed that even surprised Chabo-san,
I decided on the spot
to visit Chabo-san's after-school day service.

Since Chabo-san herself is a person of great initiative,
she contacted the facility manager while we were talking,
and things progressed smoothly.

When things that hadn't been flowing well
suddenly start to flow,
I'm the type to just go with the flow.

I'm just so excited!
It's fate.
It must be.

Trying out Zentangle at the after-school day service!

On a certain day in April,
at Chabo-san's after-school day service,
it was decided that we would hold a Zentangle workshop!

The children attending have a wide range of ages,
and because of their individual characteristics, their attention spans also vary.

And so, to make it easier for them to visualize,
instead of just drawing paper,
I decided to suggest using grid paper as a guide.

Also, many children
cannot use kanji practice notebooks or grid paper well,
so if they have any negative associations with them,
I had a slight hope that
I could help dispel that a little bit.

Zentangle is
usually drawn on paper (tiles) provided by the headquarters,
but I often draw on regular drawing paper or watercolor paper.

However, for children drawing for the first time,
the more guide lines they have, the better.
Above all, ease of drawing and visualization come first!!

It deviates from the Zentangle theory,
but it's meaningless if the children aren't interested.

I looked for some candidate tangles
and drew samples on grid paper as well.

I used things that can be drawn just by repeating straight lines and curves,
actually using notebooks that my own child hadn't finished.

At first,
the children said things like "Ugh, that looks hard" or "I'm not interested."
But after I gave them one-on-one lectures and checked their progress,
it seemed to work well,
and they drew with great focus.🥹🥹

Even the child who said, "I'd rather do sewing than draw,"
started asking me halfway through,
"Teacher, how do I draw this part!?"
"Teacher, what should I do here?"
They were very enthusiastic.

Also, the child who particularly liked the geometric patterns among the tangles
kept adding more and more arrangements in the second half.

Of course, there were children who could only focus for a short time,
and children who preferred to draw in their own way rather than doing tangles.

It's a different story from teaching Zentangle to adults.

Even so, for the kids who get into it, they really get into it!!

There are no right or wrong answers—no mistakes.

Zentangle does have a general order of strokes.
However, I believe it is perfectly fine to change them to whatever is easier for you to draw.

Also, if the instructor's example has, for instance, five lines,
and you only drew four...
that is also completely fine.

Zentangle is No mistakes !!

To me, this is its greatest appeal.

There is no rule that says you must draw exactly the same way as the CZT (teacher)!

Even if it's different, it's not a mistake.
New art is born from those differences.

Adults tend to think that drawing exactly like the example is the best way.
But the philosophy of Zentangle is different.

While there are minimum necessary techniques, the arrangements from there are infinite.

By repeating the same strokes, you can calm your mind and focus on the movements of your eyes and hands.

Even if a child who experiences this has things they struggle with,
if they can draw even one piece of art like this,

it might lead to their self-confidence.

I believe that Zentangle holds that kind of potential.
I truly think so.

Along with the appeal of Zentangle as art,
I will continue to explore ways
to convey these ideas.✨

After all, my collaboration with Chabo-san, who works in after-school day support,
is bound to create something tangible!

The fact that Chabo-san and I met
must be destiny.😊

#WhatAreWeTalkingAbout
#EnjoyingArt
#MeditativeDrawing
#Zentangle
#VisionTraining

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I have collected Zentangle-related articles
in a magazine.😊

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Click here for the site map👇

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I also have some more in-depth paid articles that include my personal experiences as a parent of a child who refuses to go to school (partially published)👇

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Self-care is especially important for busy adults!

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I also post on other social media.
　X(Twitter), Instagram, Threads
Click here for my account as a Certified Zentangle Teacher👇
　kaora_zentangle(Instagram)
Please check this out too👇

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We hold storytime sessions and Zoom seminars for school non-attendance at Kozue no Tsubomi NPO!