Kids love the idea of mehendi as much as adults do, but designing for children needs a different approach - shorter sitting time, simpler patterns, and a bit more caution around what goes on their skin. Start with small, single-motif designs rather than full-hand coverage. A single flower on the back of the palm, a small butterfly on the wrist, or a row of dots along the fingers all look festive without asking a 5-8 year old to sit still for an hour. Most children can comfortably manage 10-15 minutes of mehendi application - plan the design size around that, not the other way round. Popular simple patterns for kids include: a sun or flower in the center of the palm with a few petals radiating out, a small peacock or bird motif, simple vine patterns along one finger, or even their initial styled into a small design. Cartoon-inspired outlines (a simple butterfly, a heart, a star) tend to be the biggest hits during festivals like Eid, Diwali, and Teej. On safety: always ask whether the artist uses natural, chemical-free henna paste, especially for children. Black henna (which contains PPD, a chemical dye, not real henna) can cause serious allergic reactions on children's more sensitive skin and should be avoided completely - if a design promises to turn jet black within an hour, it's very likely black henna, not natural mehendi. Keep the paste-on time shorter for kids too - even 1-2 hours gives a decent, if lighter, stain, which is usually enough for a child who wants to show it off at school or a family function the next day. A lighter stain that a child is happy to have applied beats an ambitious design that had to be scraped off early because they couldn't sit still. If you're booking through a platform, mention upfront that the booking is for a child's mehendi - a good artist will adjust the design complexity and paste time accordingly, and won't push for something too elaborate for a young child to sit through.