According to artist and educator Felipe Sepúlveda, children need to indulge in all kinds of cognitive activities, especially since they’re at a developing stage. These activities may vary from drawing, painting, music, and dancing to DIYs and story-reciting.
Additionally, these activities also stimulate a therapeutic experience in parents alike.
When you indulge in an activity such as arts and crafts, you experience a state of heightened concentration. In such a state, you’re completely immersed with the task at hand and are isolated from the external pressures that otherwise consume your attention. This ability to focus is something that needs to be inculcated in children at an early stage of their development, and as parents, you must be aware of these benefits.
Through this article, we dive into the various benefits of indulging in arts and crafts at an earlier stage in life and how it can be used as a springboard for stimulating positive emotions.
Why is Art Important in Today's Society?
In the words of Edgar Degas, "The principles of true art is not to portray, but to evoke".
Indulging in arts and crafts helps evoke emotions that raise your awareness and consciousness. It is, thus, integral to make art an inextricable part of our society’s culture.
While growing up, your child may struggle with effective communication. Practising the art and other brain-stimulating activities like playing a musical instrument and so forth positively aids the child's development.
As parents, when you indulge in arts and crafts, you’ll not only be stress-free but also more present for your child. Plus, it’s when you experience the unwinding power of arts and crafts that you can help your child experience its true value.
The benefits of arts and crafts extend beyond that of simply being a means of relaxation. Let’s venture deeper and understand why you and your child should be indulging in the arts more often.
Also Read: Stress Relieving DIY Leathercraft Ideas For Adults
Benefit #1: Stress Relieving
According to a study published in the American Journal of Public Health, individuals who actively engage in arts and crafts experience lower stress and anxiety levels. Furthermore, these individuals recorded a boost in positive emotions and considered themselves happier.
By demanding an individual to be fully immersed while carrying out the activity, the arts can stimulate a meditative state of mind wherein you’re disconnected from your surroundings. All the work-related stress and pressures are momentarily forgotten, and you experience a state of creative flow.
In times like these, when even your child is faced with innumerable stress-inducing factors, indulging in art and craft activities are a proven way to help combat the stress.
Benefit #2: Stimulates Cognitive Activity
Indulging in the arts demands the usage of both the left and the right hemispheres of the brain. This releases a hormone called dopamine which is responsible for creating and establishing neural pathways. Therefore individuals who actively participate in arts and crafts, experience heightened cognitive activity that promotes attributes like concentration, memory and retention.
Why is mental activity so critical in the development of your child? Because as your child indulges in art, neural connections are established in their brains. This process known as neuroplasticity helps boost memory and concentration and is responsible for the healthy development of your child.
Benefit #3: Diligence And Perseverance
The benefits of arts and crafts extend a wholesome growth to individuals who practice it. It helps you grow not only on a cognitive level but also on a social and emotional level. By exposing your child to such creative outlets during their development stage, you stimulate a similar cognitive and emotional growth for your child as well.
As you may be aware, while indulging in a DIY craft activity, chances are that somewhere during the process, you end up facing a roadblock. Would you give up in such a situation? Years of life experiences have taught you to persevere and tackle the problem. But would your child react in the same way when faced with a similar situation? By exposing your child to such roadblocks through art activities, you set an example for your child to follow.
Rather than giving up and taking the easy route out, your child learns that they can overcome the roadblock if they keep at it. This relentless pursuit of excellence is what indulging in art activities brings to the table. It not only helps you to change your mindset and help you overcome obstacles you face at your workplace, but it also serves as a learning curve for your child as to how to deal with setbacks in life.
Benefit #4: Helps You Socialise
Socialising and interacting with others is an essential trait in today's times. Arts and crafts serve as a common ground for kids who have varied interests to interact with each other. Not only kids, but it also provides parents with an excellent opportunity to get creative and interact with others who have similar interests. After all, curiosity is what makes us human.
Therefore by encouraging your child to participate in art and craft activities, you’re essentially allowing them to develop their personality.
Benefit #5: Improved Motor Skills
One of the most direct implications and benefits of indulging in the arts is that it improves motor skills. Frequent indulgence in activities like using the scissors, folding pieces of paper, controlling the stroke of the brush, helps to stimulate the hand muscles, thereby improving dexterity.
Developing this dexterity is critical, especially during the development of young children. The muscles involved in craft activities help to improve the gripping strength both in the dominant as well as non-dominant hand.
Benefit #6: Critical Thinking Abilities
Critical thinking is of the essence in today's times. By indulging in art activities, parents can encourage their children to think critically. Discussions centred around your child's artwork, such as why they choose a particular material or the inspiration behind their work, will help you better connect with your child.
Additionally, since children are really enthusiastic about their creations, they will describe their work to you. You can utilise this time of interaction with your child to better their oratory skills and vocabulary.
Art also serves as an opportunity for you to relive your childhood memories while spending some quality time with your loved ones and there’s no reason you’d want to miss out on this.
Arts and crafts are, therefore, a great way to help reduce the stress in your life. Additionally, its therapeutic purposes help create a sense of calm, something that’s of the essence in today's times. Technology has made access to DIY craft activities relatively easy for us, but most craft enthusiasts are faced with a problem.
Online resources often bombard the individual with all sorts of irrelevant information. This leads to confusion, and one ends up getting more stressed while pursuing their DIY.
Also Read: 5 Best Inspirational Podcasts on Arts and Crafts For Everyone
Looking for More?
The case for indulging in hobbies is pretty strong, but how do you get started with an exciting and functional craft such as leathercrafting?
We, at Artisans, have developed a user-friendly resource base that helps you navigate leather crafting as a hobby without any hassles. From DIY templates to kits that will help you indulge in them, our online resource is crafted keeping in mind a leather crafting beginner.
We believe that education today is DIY which is why we've attempted to create an enjoyable learning experience through various leather crafting resources on our blog.
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