12 December 2008

Our own version of Mehndi.....

We have been investigating Mendhi patterns.

At festivals and weddings, Muslim women and girls decorate their hands with patterns called Mendhi.

Mendhi is the name for the orange-brown dye which is used to make the patterns.  It is made from henna, tamarind, tea and water, mixed to a paste.  (Henna, tamarind and tea are all plants.)

We decided to have a go at making our own designs.  If you would like to have a go yourselves, this it what to do:

First of all trace around a hand (a bit tickly, this, so make sure that you don't move or you might end up with too many fingers!)

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Next, trace around the shape with a black marker.

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Now, divide the hand up using three or four black wavy or whirly lines.....

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and then fill in each of the spaces that you have made with a different fine, delicate, repeating pattern.

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And there you have it.....

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Mehndi, Class 2i-style!

5 comments:

Sydney and Harrison's Dad said...

The hands are all truly amazing works of art.

Anonymous said...

Wonderful mendi patterns!
Love your blog - perhaps you would like to check out ours? We are a Primary school in Scotland - http://tarradaleblog.edublogs.org/
Many thanks
Mrs McC P5

M Webb said...

What a really clever idea - haven't seen that done before, and fantastic that you illustrated all the stages of the process. Great idea and presentation. Nice blog.
Room Six, Tamaki Intermediate School, Auckland, New Zealaand.

Theresa said...

The use of photos for step by step understanding and demonstration is fantastic! I plan to share this blog with our first grade teachers and my art teacher. Excellent work! Thank you for visiting our blog and inviting me to visit your wonderful world.

Anonymous said...

Hi,
That was a clever way of presenting Mendhi patterns. I liked how you used photos to show each stage. You must be doing some awesome work at your school. Keep it up! The children don't start till February 2nd but I'm sure they will love to see more of your work and share their own with you too.
Room 10, Pt England School, Auckland, NZ