🧶🎨 Arts & Crafts 🎨🧶

What is arts & crafts? 🤔

Arts and crafts describes a wide variety of activities involving making things with one's own hands. Arts and crafts is usually a hobby. Some crafts (art skills) have been practised since preshistoric times, others are more recent inventions.
William Morris, John Ruskin and others promoted an "arts and crafts" movement in the late 19th century, which popularized the phrase. Both children and adults enjoy arts and crafts. Children in schools may learn skills such as woodworking, wood carving, sewing, or making things with all sorts of material. Many community centres and schools have evening or day classes and workshops where one can learn arts and craft skills.

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Benefits of engaging in arts and crafts

Mental Health Benefits

Stress Relief: Immersion in your latest project can help you to refocus your mind from harmful and negative distractions. Often opening you up to more positive attitudes, or mellowing of moods as you let go of anxiousness from stressful situations. The act of crafting becomes a meditation in itself. When engaged in a craft, you are focusing on the here and now. In those moments, time stands still. You are able to forget the stressors of day to day life and be part of something completely separate.
Confidence and enhanced self-esteem: Crafting stimulates the production of dopamine, the “feel good” neurotransmitter, that is responsible for pleasure and enjoyment. Finishing a project gives you a sense of accomplishment, which positively promotes a happier state of mind through the release of dopamine into your system. If you open yourself to looking for the positives in even the most challenging of projects by looking for the learning opportunities, that can also promote the feeling of accomplishment. Helping you achieve a move towards better mental health and mood improvement at that moment.

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Physical Benefits

Improves fine motor skills (dexterity): For those with debilitating conditions, the act of crafting such as sewing, knitting or cross-stitch for some can act as dexterity exercises and the completion of a satisfying project can make us feel accomplished, even if our bodies hold us back. As we get older and our body ages, one of the biggest things we notice is our body doesn’t easily do the things we used to take for granted we could do. Opening jars, breaking small pills and so on. Taking up a craft can help keep your fingers trained to be more nimble as you age.
Improves hand-eye coordination: Some crafts require the coordination of visual information with hand movements, such as knitting, pottery, etc., which can improve hand-eye coordination. This skill is essential for daily tasks and can be especially helpful for young children’s development and for adults looking to maintain coordination as they age.

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Social Benefits

Encourages Social Interaction: Many people participate in arts and crafts classes or clubs, creating opportunities for socialization, collaboration, and forming friendships. One of the greatest things about crafting in a social setting is the opportunity to learn from others and gain fresh perspectives. Each person brings their own unique style, techniques, and ideas to the table, sparking inspiration and pushing us to explore new creative horizons. Whether it’s a new stitching technique, a clever quilting pattern, or an innovative use of materials, there’s always something to learn and be inspired by when we craft together.
Builds Community: Crafting groups and workshops often foster a sense of community and belonging, which can be beneficial for mental health and well-being. It’s a fantastic way to connect with like-minded individuals who share similar interests and values. Whether it’s swapping tips, admiring each other’s work, or simply enjoying each other’s company, social crafting fosters a sense of belonging and camaraderie that can brighten even the gloomiest of days.

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Popular Types of Arts & Crafts

Type of craft	Example	More examples
Paper crafts	Origami	Papier-mâche, Scrapbooking, Papercutting, Quilling
Needlework	Embroidery	Cross stitch, Knitting, Crochet, Punch needle
Ceramics and glass crafts	Pottery	Mosaics, Porcelain, Glassblowing, Stained glass
Fibre and textile crafts	Weaving	Felting, Rope-making, Rug making, Spinning