We know that crafting for adults can be relaxing. This is a somewhat obvious benefit but is not the only one. Crafting can help us maintain our minds active, without reaching levels of mental exhaustion. From this perspective, the benefits of crafting for adults can be invaluable.
These are just a couple of the many benefits of doing crafting for adults. In this blog post, I will expand on the above and share with you my thoughts on other benefits that perhaps you may not be aware of.
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Benefits of Crafting for Adults:
1. Helps You Relax and Take Away Stress
Numerous scientific studies show that being concentrated in doing some form of crafting with our hands, is beneficial for our state of mind. Crafting allows us to enter a state of relaxation and well-being.
As we get further involved in the project, time flies by, while we are absorbed in what we are creating with our hands. Some scientists have classified this state of mind as a form of meditation.
Now, some people suffer stress and anxiety to the point that is crippling. In as much as they venture into crafting, they seem lost. What do you think? Are stress and anxiety the same thing? Learn about the stress triggers, common sources, symptoms, how it works, and its relationship to anxiety in our blog post titled: “Stress and Anxiety: Understanding The Basics.”
2. Gives a Sense of Satisfaction
When we create something with our hands, in which we have invested time and dedication, we feel satisfaction and pride. This is a different feeling that is difficult to achieve in other ways. When you are working on a project, you see the evolution of your creativity.
As the craft takes shape and looks closer to what you had in mind, you feel an internal joy that is difficult to explain, but that fills you with satisfaction.
I encourage you if you have not done a project yet, to create something with your hands. You can start with something simple.
I am certain that you will get “addicted” to this feeling/sense of satisfaction, which is a key contributor to the benefits of crafting for adults.
3. Help Overcome Difficulties and Increase Self-Esteem
Psychological studies have shown that crafts can help to “absorb everything”, helping people to reach the so-called “steady-flow”. This is where worries are forgotten and the mind focuses on the activity, which in this case, is “creating”.
These studies also indicate that, by being involved in crafting, a state of mastery is reached, which helps to control the difficulties that arise in daily life.
Crating offers, in addition, a feeling of achievement that elevates the self-esteem of the person.
4. Improve Mental Agility
Experts say that the role of crafts in improving mental agility is underestimated. However, crafting has proven to greatly help take control in unfamiliar situations.
This happens when we take on a new form of crafting where we have to first do some form of research and then, follow directions. This approach or discipline helps to calm the anxieties of the unknown.
Crafting for adults promotes creative and decisive thinking, which will help us make better decisions in all areas of our lives. It stimulates the creation of new brain connections, which is scientifically proven to make us smarter.
The bottom line is that, in general, people who perform crafts tend to be able to make better decisions and in a faster way than people who do not do this type of activity. We could summarize this point by saying that doing manual labor is the best way to exercise our brain.
For a more in-depth discussion and thoughts on how to maintain your mental health and slow down mental deterioration, please check out my blog post “Maintain Mental Health With These 11 Ideas”.
5. Make You Feel Happier
That’s right, something as simple as practicing crafts helps a lot to make us happier. The practice of manual activities, like crafting, helps treat and avoid depression.
These activities help to oxygenate the brain, thus promoting the generation of the “chemicals of happiness”. In other words, it is like having some kind of “mental vitamin”, but in a completely natural way.
Studies have shown that performing some form of crafting activates multiple areas of the brain. Think about this for a moment, is not much more effective than prescription antidepressants?
6. Improves Brain – Motor Skills
When we perform manual work, we force our brain to coordinate thinking with our hands, thus training fine motor skills. Another aspect of this particular benefit of crafting for adults is the exercise and improvement of the coordination, as well as the precision of our hands.
My blog post titled “Maintain Mental Health With These 11 Ideas” provides a more comprehensive look at this topic, which I hope you will enjoy.
7. Is an Excellent Way to Express Yourself
Manual creation is an excellent way to express ourselves. For example, when we choose and create, shapes, colors, sizes, etc, we are expressing ourselves, showing our tastes, aesthetic sense, and even expressing our emotions.
All manual crafters know that our emotions play an important role in the way we do everything. I am sure that you will agree with me on the fact that we do not create in the same way when we are sad that when we are cheerful or melancholic. The colors, shapes, design, layouts, etc, will be different.
8. Is a Wonderful Activity to Share With Others
Making crafts is a wonderful activity to share with members of your family, as well as friends. When we share happy and quiet moments with the people we love or appreciate, we feel more united with them.
These moments will always remain our memories and will strengthen the bonds with them. For example, who has not felt this way when doing some form of craft with a friend or going to a crafting class, workshop, or activity?
What a wonderful feeling it is to share this precious moment with a friend or belonging to a group where the main idea is to spend time together creating? There is nothing more satisfying than sharing a hobby with people with the same tastes and interests.
I recommend if you have not done so already, that you go to fairs and workshops. The experience is wonderful and you will be full of creative energy.
9. Helps You Create Invaluable Gifts
What you create with your own hands will be the most precious gift you can make for a friend or family relative. When you give something done with your hands, it always (and immediately) becomes a wonderful gift that will be treasured forever.
This is because you have put your time, care and dedication. Such a gift will be better appreciated and valued over one that you simply buy and give away.
Developing creativity can be part of your learning process. However, this will only happen if you make an effort to get out of your comfort zone and work on modifying certain habits. I invite you to read our blog post “15 Strategies to Help You Develop Creativity”. The information provided in it will help you consider other areas of personal creativity growth.
The following are some good examples to get you started in practicing creativity:
10. Promotes Recycling
There are different types of crafts that allow us to take advantage of an object that is new (or looks like new) but has become obsolete or no longer needed. We can give such objects another use by updating them with some of our own creativity.
For example, we do this when we paint a piece of furniture of another color and make a drawing or motif with a stencil. Another good example would be when we paint and use an alarm clock that does not work as an object of decoration, etc. The fact is that the options are endless because the “limit” is only bound by our imagination.
We also help the environment when we create objects from others that are broken or use parts of others that otherwise would have been thrown away. For example when we create furniture from a pallet, when we create baskets with strands created from T-shirts or cotton fabrics, etc.
People who like crafts are usually ones who do not like anything the culture of buying continues to promote. They tend to be lovers of recycling and take every opportunity to give more uses to objects.
I do not find anything more special and rewarding than taking an unusable object and give it new life…thus extending its usefulness and creating something beautiful.
11. Can Be Done In The Comfort of Your Home
Since the objective of crafting is to be creative, we don’t have to leave the comfort of our home to start.
If you are like me and love making crafts you know that with each project, we learn small secrets that help us improve, enjoy the hobby, and to do it better the next time.
Here are some tips doing crafts at home and although some advice may seem obvious, it is important to pay attention to the details:
- Cover the Space, doing a project that requires the use of glue, paint, markers, etc. You can place a newspaper on the table or something similar.
- Always have masking tape handy and wear an apron or an old shirt when you work.
- Have all the materials, equipment, and tools for the project available before you start. It is truly frustrating to start working and discover that you do not have the necessary materials. To prevent this, have an inventory of your materials and, at the end of each craft, review the list to determine if you need to replace an instrument or material.
- Be neat and organized. When you are doing a craft and can’t find something, progress is delayed. Worse yet, in many cases it causes our craft to be ruined. Therefore, it is important to be organized and work neatly. Here is a link for some craft organizing supplies and below I list some of my recommendations. I recommend that you use boxes, shelves, and drawers to store your implements in an organized way.
- Save everything. Do not throw anything away because you never know when you will need it. For example, the lid of that bottle that you had thrown away, ribbons, bottles, paper tubes, cans, everything can be put to good use when doing crafting.
- Use plastic boxes that allow you to see through them. That will allow you to keep material, items, and tools arranged in a way in which can help fills your inspiration to start new crafting projects.
- Follow the rules and steps for the specific project, but be ready to give them your own personal twist. Making crafts helps us to develop our creativity. When starting a new project, I recommend that you pay close attention to the instructions, as appropriate, and follow them step by step.
- Once you have clear how to do a particular craft, think about what you can contribute to giving it your personal touch.
I have have found that even a simple craft can help you feel relax. For example, some of my friends have used a simple coloring book for adults. Technically coloring is not crafting in a classical way. Nevertheless, it does provide for a fun way to relax and be somewhat creative. My favorite ones are the following:
Conclusion
Now you know that the benefits of crafting for adults are many and significant from the emotional and physical perspective. Aside from helping us manage stress and build mental agility, it can be a fantastic tool to foster friendships.
Crafting does not require special skills or setting. The possibilities, as well as the health and emotional benefits, are endless!
I would love to hear if you already enjoy doing some form of crafting. If you do, what it is? If you don’t, what and when do you expect to start?
I appreciate you sharing the link to your blog post. Please, share my post with your audience, as well so that we can help each other in spreading the word.
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I like that you pointed out how crafting would allow us to enter a state of relaxation and well-being. My wife needs a new hobby in order to relax and I think engaging in arts and crafts would be good for her. So, she should probably try stopping at a DIY workshop soon.
I was captivated when you mentioned that crafting is a hobby that aims to be creative. My friend wants to have a custom-made art pedestal. I should advise her to look for a store that provides quality crafts.