Mandalas are balanced designs made within a circle, and are a common art form in many traditional cultures. The word "mandala" comes from the Sanskrit language of India, and simply means "circle." The best known sand mandala art comes from Tibet and China, where Buddhist monks use colored sand to carefully draw an intricate pattern.

Mandalas and sand art are also part of cultures around the world. Mandala designs are used in the "rose windows" of medieval European cathedrals, in the crests of Japanese samurai, in native American shield designs, in geometric Islamic art, and much more.

The set includes:

• 8 traditional sand art patterns printed on "sticky" paper
• 2 art boards for you to create your own design creations
• colored pencils in 8 colors for designing
• 10 tubes of colored sand, and 1 tube of metalic silver
• a bottle of white glue
• Full color detailed instructions