If you are like me, you didn’t know the word zentangle even existed until fairly recently. I don’t know when the word came into use but our family learned the word around Thanksgiving. I know that specifically because I found a really cute turkey for the girls to color and when I went to the site (which I would link to if I knew it) to print it out, it was called a Zentangle Turkey. So, I started reading. And what I realized is that the word describes what I have always called “doodling.” Yep. Seriously. For as long as I can remember, I have drawn a shape and filled it in with various patterns, shadings, and shapes. That is the long and short of zentangle, as far as I can tell. It is something that is fun to do and we need to do more of it.
Some reasons I would like to include more zentangle art?
– It creates a focused attention.
– It is soothing, almost like meditation, but with busy hands.
– It gives just enough guidance to be creative but not be overwhelmed by a blank page if you start with a black-and-white outline picture.
– It allows inspiration to flow.
– Many retain information better when listening if their hands are busy so this is also a learning help.
– Coloring is just plain fun!
I know that none of those are scientific reasons. Just the same, they are true for our family. So, we’ll keep it up whenever the girls have something to listen to but need to have their hands busy.
If you need something to start with, hit up Pinterest. There are an unbelievable number of pins on there with the zentangle tag. But really, if you are working on a topic, you can just find a black line master picture and copy it. Then fill in the blanks with different patterns and/or colors. The more you do, the more you will enjoy it, I imagine. I do.
And in honor of Memorial Day, here is a poppy picture to design with zentangle designs. Click on the link below the picture to get access to the PDF file. Print out as many as you need and feel free to share the link to this post.
At Home.
Tagged: ABC blogging, art, history
At Home 
This sounds really cool! So it is just doodling. Hmm…I think we can handle that in our house. 🙂
That’s how I have understood it, anyhow. We enjoy taking a good coloring page with big spaces and using them this way. Maybe I need to find some more for the upcoming holidays.