art therapy

Final Stretch for 2016 Christmas Project

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Christmas Coloring Book by E and P Lewis
Final checks to the illustrations for the Christmas carol coloring book.

Who doesn’t love a cheerfully bright and colorful Christmas? This year, my husband (the embodiment of multi-facetted creativity) and I set out to develop a cheerful, creative product that would embrace the best of Christmas. We wanted this to be a joint creative project that would pool our individual talents, and yield something that would give people a real-time break from all the craziness that Christmas has devolved into. We chose to embark on a project that would blend the visual and hearing senses in an experience that revisits the joy and peace of Christmas. The end of this project is in sight, and the product (which is perfect for gifting) is due for early release in October 2016.

My husband’s half of the project is the listening experience. And it is an experience you will want to have – the music is hauntingly beautiful, and will put you in the mood for the best kind of Christmas. When you have brain-fry and mall-fog from the Christmas shopping that makes you wish you could skip Christmas this year, this is the music you need to be listening to. The CD (which will also be available as a digital download) features a blend of old (read that as VERY well known) and not-so-common Christmas carols. What sets this collection of Christmas carols apart is that the entire album is played exclusively on trumpet. (Technically, it’s not just trumpet, as some of the recordings do feature flugelhorn, but I think of the flugelhorn as falling under the instrumental umbrella of the trumpet.)  The CD is perfect for listening to on its own, but it comes into its own when you couple it with my half of the project.

My responsibility was to develop an adult-friendly coloring book that would amplify the experience of listening to the Christmas carols on the CD. Coloring is a great way to unwind at the end of a stressful day, and the festive season has become notorious for taking our stress levels up more than just a few notches. We wanted to develop a coloring experience that would keep the user’s attention on the Christmas story (after all, that is central to why we celebrate at Christmas), and provide plenty of opportunity to indulge in the use of uplifting, vibrant colors. And we wanted to double the relaxation and joy-infusing effect of the coloring by coupling it with mood-uplifting music.

Each page in the coloring book represents a stage in the development of the Christmas story. Those familiar with my drawing style will know that this book won’t look like most of the coloring books you find stacked up on the shelves at the grocery checkout. I like freestyle drawing, and the blending of reality with the abstract. This book is an expression of how I see the Christmas story: a little humor, a little abstract patterning, many fun spaces to color, and a lot of Jesus. And each page is directly related to one or more of the carols on the accompanying CD. Each full-page illustration comes with a list of the carols that are referenced by the illustration, an extract from a carol, and the scripture that forms the foundation for the illustration (and the carols).

With the release date set for October 2016, we are definitely in the final stretch. The music has been recorded, the illustrations are finished, and the final product is coming together. The combo product will initially be sold through Tiger Music, an online music store that ships internationally, but you will be able to buy the CD and the coloring book separately at a later stage. Stay updated by subscribing to my blog (there’s a button on the side of this page), or to my husband’s blog.

If you are looking for a Christmas gift that is cheerful, uplifting, colorful, joy-inducing, stress-relieving, and plain FUN to use, this CD and coloring book combo fits the bill.

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Love in Scripture: Free Adult Coloring Pages

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Fruit of the Spirit: LoveIn celebration of the release of my latest coloring book, “Fruit of the Spirit Colouring Book“, I have a gift for you. You can collect your own FREE copy of “LOVE” in my store. Visit the FREEBIE section of the store to load your cart with digital products that are currently offered as gifts to all my readers.

Why do I give some products away?

I believe most customers are not true risk takers when it comes to shopping (and rightly so). Most want to be able to open the box and look inside BEFORE they hand over their hard-earned money. Digital products (which, by their very “virtual” nature, cannot come with a return option) are particularly challenging for the less adventurous shopper. I want my customers to purchase my digital products with confidence, and having the opportunity to look inside a book or color a sample page goes a long way to building confidence in the products I create.

Is there a catch?

No. Free is free! If the price tag says ZERO, then you won’t be charged anything at checkout. You don’t need to add other products to the cart to be able to receive a FREEBIE. Of course, I would love to have you buy other items from my store, but you are not obliged to. I want you to enjoy using the FREE products, and I would appreciate hearing how you experience the items. Feel free to stop by and leave a comment here.

 

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Fruit of the Spirit Adult Coloring Book

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inPRINT_RELEASE_fruitofspiritBible study meets therapeutic coloring in my newest illustration project: “Fruit of the Spirit Colouring Book“. Galations 5:22-23 forms the foundation for this book. The “fruit” mentioned in this well-known scripture is dissected, and each of the nine characteristics of the fruit of the Spirit is explored through illustration and scripture.

LOVE, JOY, PEACE, LONGSUFFERING, KINDNESS, GOODNESS, FAITHFULNESS, GENTLENESS, and SELF-CONTROL – the Bible has a lot to say about each of these characteristics. This book invites you to open your Bible and make a few discoveries of your own as you fill the  fruity illustrations with color.

The book balances full page, abstract illustrations alongside pages of Bible reading and study activities. The large illustrations feature key words from Galations 5:22-23 embedded in quasi-abstract, retro-styled designs. The study pages are designed with decorative borders, so you can continue to color while you read and reflect on what the Bible has to teach us about the fruit of the Spirit.

The “Fruit of the Spirit Colouring Book” is now available in print, and can be ordered from various online book sellers. If your favorite bookstore does not stock this book, ask them to add it to their inventory listing. I recommend ordering your copy from Lulu. Remember to check their website for any coupons before you order, as Lulu often has special deals for book lovers. If you live in South Africa, I recommend ordering from Megabooks – in many cases, their prices of my books beat any of their international competitors.

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Cape Town in Colour

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Cape Town: Colour the Rainbow Nation by Pearl LewisCape Town, the Mother City of South Africa, is an advert for a great country. As a city with a colourful personality and arms wide open to embrace cultural diversity, Cape Town stands as tall as the mountain that casts a shadow over it. Big. Bold. And proudly South African. Even those who have never visited South Africa are quick to recognize Cape Town’s iconic landmarks: Table Mountain, the City Bowl, Devil’s Peak, Kirstenbosch Gardens, V&A Waterfront, and the list goes on.

Cape Town cannot help but serve as muse. The inspiration it has to offer shrouds the curious mind, dampening the creativity with its salty essence. It spills over thoughts in much the same way that the Cape Doctor’s ghostly breath drapes itself over Table Mountain’s plateau. You will find Cape Town’s special brand of inspiration reflected in the hot, African rhythms that eminate from the crowded jazz venues, in the ghoema beat to which the “Kaapse Klopse” parade dances its way into the new year, in the flavours of the rich Malay curries, in the vibrant street art that tells the city’s collective story, and in the classic and contemporary poetry that bares the city’s soul. A little of Cape Town’s inspiration has soaked into me over the years, and planted the seed for the first book in a new series: Colour the Rainbow Nation.

“Cape Town: Colour the Rainbow Nation” is a celebration of Cape Town’s warm personality and beautiful environment. This book is my way of paying tribute to the Mother City. Since there is much to see and experience in such a magnificent city, and a colouring book can only have SO MANY pages, I had to put some boundaries in place. Instead of simply focusing exclusively on the obvious tourist traps, I built my illustrations on the foundation that Cape Town had laid in my own memories and experiences. I will admit that I have done a few of the touristy things like riding the cable car up the mountain, and sitting on the quayside at V&A Waterfront watching the seals sunbathe. But “Cape Town: Colour the Rainbow Nation” is about more than the things everyone should have the opportunity to experince at least once in their lives. It is the story of how a non-Capetonian (like myself) experiences the city, and it is told in a series of ready-to-colour pages.

I like to think that the story I tell has a page for everyone. Take the “mountain king” page as an example. If you have been to Cape Town and never seen a baboon roaming the streets before dawn, then you left the city too soon or got up too late. The baboon may not be one of South Africa’s BIG FIVE, but it certainly is big and bold enough to be the featured wildlife of Cape Town. Then there are the street parades that happen every year on the second of January. I remember first witnessing (thanks to television) the annual Kaapse Klopse as a child. The images and sounds of this Cape Town street parade captivated my young imagination, and remained with me to become another page in the book. Don’t forget the legend of Van Hunks and the vice he shared with the devil. Such a story surely deserves its own page.  You get the idea, don’t you? It’s not just a colouring book about the grand, old Table Mountain (although the majestic mountain did demand it’s own page, which it received).

If you have seen any of my earlier colouring books, you will know that I prefer freestyle drawing. My colouring book pages are not computer-generated models of perfection as has become typical of adult colouring books. I go where the lines lead, and yes, sometimes my hand-drawn lines are a little wonky. Where you see wonky, I see a story unfolding. I like the adjective “organic” – hand-drawn lines are natural, and just a little earthy. The thickness of a hand-drawn line varies as the pen glides across the paper, and sometimes the ink makes a joyful, little ink blob where you didn’t expect to place a blob. The sweep of a hand-drawn curve cannot be described with a very simple mathematical equation – you will need to apply some hefty calculus to write organic lines in mathematics. Yes, hand-drawn illustrations are wonderfully quirky. My illustrations are indeed organic: real-life stories sketched in a thin flow of monotone – stories that are begging you to bring them to life with colour.

“Cape Town: Colour the Rainbow Nation” is already available in print and digital formats from a couple of retailers, and you can expect to see the book listed at the major stores (e.g. Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Book Depository) within the next four to six weeks.  You can purchase the print and digital (pdf) versions of this book from Lulu. Lulu offers shipping from various depots across the globe, so your order will ship from the location nearest to you. If you live in South Africa, I recommend ordering your print copy from MegaBooks (a book seller based in Cape Town). Megabooks is offering a special introductory price for this book, so you will not only save a lot on the cover price of the book, but also bypass any international customs clearance fees that are levied when you order from Europe or USA.

If you decide to invest in a copy, please do come back and let me know how you experienced the book. If colouring the pages triggered memories, made you laugh, or if you simply enjoyed filling the pages with colour, I would love to hear about it.

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NEW RELEASE: Blessed

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Blessed Coloring for the Soul by Pearl R. Lewis“BLESSED: Coloring for the Soul“, my latest book of abstract illustrations, is now in print. This adult coloring book is available in coil-bound and perfect-bound paperback format. There is also a digital version for those who prefer to print their own book at home.

Curious about what it means to be BLESSED, but don’t see yourself as a serious Bible student? Now is your chance to explore what the Bible has to say about this topic in a colorful, creative way. “BLESSED: Coloring for the Soul” includes fifty  ready-to-color, full-page designs which gracefully weave together scripture and organic, abstract illustrations.  This is a coloring book, so obviously the focus is on providing a space for you to express yourself with color. However, for coloring to be as relaxing and therapeutic as it should be, it makes sense that you be thinking encouraging, uplifting thoughts while you color. As you fill the pages of “BLESSED: Coloring for the Soul” with your choice of vibrant colors, you have the opportunity to reflect on scripture. The fifty full-page illustrations are built around ten core scriptures. Each scripture reveals a little of what it means to be blessed.

The scientist in me is always asking questions, so an “Ask the Illustrator” chapter was inevitable. “How” and “why” questions are a natural part of how I think,  and I expect that a few of you are like that, too. You will flip through a book and immediately have questions about the designs or the other content of the book. When I wrote this chapter, I tried to answer a few of the questions I might ask. Given that book space is limited, I didn’t address a lot of questions, and left some to be answered on this blog. If the book doesn’t satisfy your curiosity, and I haven’t covered your question in a blog post, please do send me your question via this website’s contact form.

For the coloring enthusiasts that love a little extra, you will find a BONUS eighteen-page, illustrated Bible reading guide at the back of “BLESSED: Coloring for the Soul“. This reading (or study) guide blends coloring spaces with Bible references. If you are not interested in following up on the topic of blessing in the Bible, you can simply color the reference pages (which are decorated to match the theme of the book). However, if you want to know more about what God has to say about blessing, the reference list gives you a starting place for looking up the topic in the Bible. You can look up as many of the scriptures as you like, and meditate on what you have read as you color. The study guide is a simple way to start your own adventure of discovering the truths buried in the Bible.

“BLESSED: Coloring for the Soul” is all about the joy of coloring abstract illustrations, but it also offers soul nutrition. This adult coloring book encourages you to relax and consciously meditate on God’s Word, while you play with color and tap into the many health benefits of art therapy.

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NEW RELEASE: Color the Realm of Fractonia

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Color the Realm of Fractonia by Pearl LewisThe ORIGINS of COLOR the REALM of FRACTONIA

“FRACTONIA” is a sci-fi adventure story for pre-teen and teen readers. To tickle the imagination a little more, some chapters also include line illustrations. The style of the illustrations and the story they are able to tell on their own, without text, encouraged the release of a book of ready-to-color illustrations, “COLOR THE REALM OF FRACTONIA“.

FRACTONIA’S COLORING BOOK

“COLOR THE REALM OF FRACTONIA” (by Pearl R. Lewis) is a small-format, modern-style coloring book for “big” kids (and those who are young at heart). This coloring book matches the design and size of the paperback, “FRACTONIA“, and is also perfect-bound.  The coloring book references the novel, and is the logical accompaniment to “FRACTONIA“, particularly if you prefer to give physical books as gifts or prizes. The size of the coloring book makes is convenient and light-weight to slip into a backpack or take along on a car trip.

What is inside “COLOR THE REALM OF FRACTONIA”?

The book starts with a brief reference to “FRACTONIA” as a way of introducing the characters that are waiting for your color input. You will encounter all of your favorites: King Spudski, Matthew Roberts, Merc, QM, the memory beasts, and the Parts. Each character has a part to play, but you are the one in charge of how they look when they play that part. While the book does hint about the appearance of the characters, you are free to paint these strange beings in colors that you believe belong with them. No restrictions. You color them as you think they should look.

Of course, King Spudski, Merc, QM, Matthew, and the fraction folk are not new to you. You met them in “FRACTONIA” and ended the book with an idea of how they looked. What “FRACTONIA” failed to reveal was that there were other Fractonians lurking in the shadows that did not get featured in the novel. As a special bonus, “COLOR THE REALM OF FRACTONIA” introduces you to a few new characters that you may not have noticed before: Diffractoids, Angularicans, the Master of Relativity, and the curious young Nietsnie.

How do I use “COLOR THE REALM OF FRACTONIA”?

If you have never heard about the Realm of Fractonia, but enjoy coloring strange creatures you know little to nothing about, this book is for you. Man those colored pencils and colorize the world and the creatures of Fractonia without another moment’s hesitation. There is, however, an advantage to first reading “FRACTONIA” before you attempt to color the pages. Submerging yourself in the story allows you to approach the coloring from a position of familiarity. The illustrations won’t just be lines and forms on the page, but personalities you have come to like or dislike. Having an emotional connection with the characters can help to make your coloring more expressive – you will probably feel more engaged, and might find it easier to daydream about the story as you color. Parents and teachers may prefer to read “FRACTONIA” out aloud to a younger audience. The children can  use the telling of the story as a way to stimulate their creativity while they color pictures from “COLOR THE REALM OF FRACTONIA“.

Is this a coloring book for little children?

Anyone capable of coloring a line illustration can add color to this book. It was, however, created as a supplement to the book, “FRACTONIA“, so the ideal user of the coloring book will be pre-teen or older. Yes, adults are welcome to indulge in a little coloring.

Should a teen be seen with a coloring book?

Yes, but only if they are smart. Adult coloring is rapidly gaining ground as a healthy activity: it reduces stress, stimulates creativity, and encouraging physical and psychological healing. If adults are recognizing the health benefits of splashing color on the page, smart (i.e. cool) teens will do the same. “COLOR THE REALM OF FRACTONIA” will appeal most to youth that are interested in science fiction or fantasy. Coupling the coloring book with the novel produces an interesting gift set for the young and curious in your life. It’s a great way to get readers to explore art, and artists to indulge in a little reading.

Where can I buy a copy of “COLOR THE REALM OF FRACTION”?

The conveniently sized 6″ x 9″ paperback version of “COLOR THE REALM OF FRACTONIA” is currently available from Lulu. You can also find it at other online book stores such as Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Ingram, and The Book Depository.

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Art Therapy Adult Coloring Kit

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Healing Patterns Adult Coloring Art Therapy Kit for Christians“Healing Patterns: A Coloring Book for Adults” has become the focal point for a new art therapy kit. The scripture-centered coloring book, which has been available since May 2015, has now been released as part of a ready-to-give gift set. These gift sets are currently sold in ETSY’s Zisubu Artique craft store. 

While using a book like “Healing Patterns: A Coloring Book for Adults” is relaxing and therapeutic no matter what your state of health, adult coloring books are especially beneficial for those facing illness or battling through a difficult recovery period. Often people are unsure of what gifts would be appropriate for someone who is ill, facing surgery, in a rehabilitation facility, or confined to a sick bed. An adult coloring book is a great way to combine entertainment with health benefits. It doesn’t require a great deal of concentration to color an illustration, so even those too medicated to enjoy much reading may still be able to engage in coloring. And an illustration can be colored in tiny increments, so a patient can do as much or as little coloring as they have energy for. An earlier blog post entitled “The Effect of Art of Healing” details some of the physical health benefits of an activity like coloring.

The HEALING PATTERNS art therapy kit was created to take the work out of getting started with therapeutic coloring. The kit brings together everything you (or the person you gift it to) will need to start coloring. Inside each gift set (packaged in a clear, re-sealable plastic bag) you will find:

  • One SIGNED copy of “Healing Patterns: A Coloring Book for Adults” – I have made signed copies (with a short hand-written message) available for these art therapy kits so the kits offer something different from what is available directly from the book stores (e.g. Barnes & Noble, Amazon, Lulu, Ingram, The Book Depository) in USA and Europe.
  • One ready-to-color greeting card and envelope – the front of the greeting card displays a design that brings together elements of one of the illustrations in the book and a scripture (Mark 10:27). The card can be colored and framed as an artwork, or used a greeting card (with or without coloring it). The card is blank inside to encourage the user to express their own thoughts, write poetry, or simply jot a note for someone else. Part of the joy of being creative lies in sharing your creative efforts with others. This greeting card is a simple opportunity for the user to benefit from a coloring exercise, while also making something useful to share with someone else.
  • One Healing Patterns postcard (4″ x 6″) – the colorful card is printed with a variation of the image from the back of the coloring book. The reverse side of the postcard has space for a message, an address, and a stamp. The postcard can be mailed using a standard postal stamp.
  • A set of pre-sharpened colored pencils (12 pencils)
  • A pencil sharpener (because pencils won’t stay sharp on their own) – anticipating that this kit may be given as a gift to people who are not necessarily in their own home where they have access to everything they need, we included a small pencil sharpener in the kit. That way, there is no need to give up your coloring time just because a pencil tip broke or wore down.

If you don’t want to try coloring for yourself and you don’t know anyone you could gift an art therapy kit to, consider donating one or two kits to your local clinic/hospital or assisted living facility. Many churches also have hospital visitation programs – drop some art therapy kits at your local church and ask them to distribute the kits to people during their hospital or home care visits. Zisubu Artique ships these art therapy kits worldwide.

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MOVING in MIRACLES for HEALING PATTERNS

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six trumpetsSIX TRUMPETS on a SOULFUL JOURNEY

Imagine six trumpets. Imagine them played skillfully so the music weaves together into the kind of intricate piece that takes you on a journey. “Moving in Miracles” is this soulful journey: a musical transition from light, minimalist influences to rich, baroque phrases. “Moving in Miracles” was composed by Eddie Lewis as a complement to one of the ready-to-color illustrations in “Healing Patterns: A Coloring Book for Adults“.

HEALING PATTERNS

“Healing Patterns” brings together a collection of my hand-drawn illustrations and some of my favorite faith-building scriptures. The reading of the scriptures and the creation of simple art function side-by-side to help the user relax, soak up God’s Word, and enjoy the numerous benefits of art therapy.

MOVING in MIRACLES VIDEO

As you watch the music video for “Moving in Miracles” (included below), you will see the illustration that inspired “Moving in Miracles” fill with color. This video gives you the opportunity to momentarily experience the effects of art and music: enjoy beautiful, inspiring music while you witness empty space fill with vibrant colors. When you have watched the video, please take a moment to leave a comment and let us know how this video affected you.

The sheet music for “Moving in Miracles” is available as a download from the Tiger Music Store.

 

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The Effect of Art on Healing

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Surgical Anatomy by J. Maclise 1859 Art, health, and healing are related. Say that out aloud in a public gathering and most people will nod enthusiastically. That art and music are great healing therapies for the body and soul is accepted as an undisputed “fact”. But is it really a “fact” or just something we feel must be true?

Stuckey and Nobel took a long, hard look at the connection between art, healing, and public health (Stuckey and Nobel, American Journal of Public Health, February 2010, vol 100, no 2, p254-263). These researchers compiled a review of qualitative and quantitative research studies (1995 to 2007) focused on the relationship between participation in the creative arts (e.g. painting, drawing, music, dancing) and health outcomes. What were they searching for? Proof (or the absence of proof) that participating in the creative arts does in fact play a role in physical healing. What did these researchers find? In rounding up and reviewing twelve years of research, Stuckey and Nobel came to the conclusion that artistic expression does have a positive effect on health. Obviously, the research is ongoing and we will continue to learn more with each new study conducted. If you are not interested in reading journal articles yourself, let me sum it up for you: the evidence indicates that creative engagement (i.e. actually participating in artistic activities) decreases anxiety, stress, and mood disturbances.

But what does a decrease in anxiety and stress have to do with the way you heal?

Everyone knows that too much stress is bad for our health, but most people think that stress only reduces our sense of well being. It turns out that stress doesn’t just make us feel bad on a head level. Stress actually plays a big role in how we heal on a physical level. Gouin and Kiecolt-Glaser, in their research on the impact of psychological stress on wound healing (Gouin and Kiecolt-Glaser, Immunology and Allergy Clinics of North America, February 2011, vol 31, no 1, p81–93) found that psychological stress significantly delays the healing of wounds. Lucas’ research on psychological stress and wound healing (Lucas, Wounds, 2011, vol 22, no 4, p 76-83)  reported findings from three other studies linking anxiety and depression to delayed healing.  In simple terms, this means that stressed out, anxious people don’t just feel bad – they experience higher levels of cortisol (the “stress” hormone) which has a negative effect on the immune system. The immune systems of stressed out, anxious people don’t work as well as they should, and as a result their bodies don’t heal as quickly as they could.

Surgical Anatomy by J. Maclise 1859The news today is that participating in a creative endeavor is good for you – not just in some distant, “good feeling” kind of way, but in a practical, clinically measurable way. Science supports this. Being creative will help to lower your stress levels and reduce your anxiety. When you are less anxious and stressed out, your immune system will work better. When your immune system works well, you fight disease more effectively and you heal faster. If you want to encourage physical healing, follow your medical team’s advice while you also do your part to reduce your stress and anxiety. Start small by including creativity into your life. Not sure how to be creative? No time for such “nonsense”? Definitely see yourself as a non-artistic personality? Too sick or too exhausted to still be “arty” and  creative at the end of a long day? Try an easy-to-use, stress-reducing tool such as “Healing Patterns: A Coloring Book for Adults“. Using this book requires no artistic skill (but you will need some colored pencils), and you stay in control: you decide how long to be “arty” each day. Take a step towards better health: be creative.

Illustrations: “Surgical Anatomy” by J. Maclise (a fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons) – published in Philadelphia by Blanchard and Lea in 1859.

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Benefits of Crafts for Children and Adults

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Pottery as a craftCrafts can be fun, but are they good for you?  In a Kidspot article entitled “Benefits of Craft for Kids“, the author lists a handful of the benefits for children engaging in craft activities. Did you know that crafting stimulates the child’s imagination to create their own entertainment, and helps grow their confidence in their own ability to make decisions? In response to the question “Do Arts & Crafts Help A Preschool Kid?, Naudain Academy suggests that crafting contributes to the development of a variety of valuable skills including social, communication, fine motor, and problem solving skills. Most educators and parents seem to agree that crafting is highly beneficial for young children, but the confidence wanes when asked to consider crafts for older children and adults. Is there a point at which doing crafts becomes a waste of time?

Let’s define a craft activity, because it is often confused with art. Crafting is a goal-oriented activity, where the end result is well defined (usually by some external source like a set of instructions). An art-focused activity is an open-ended, expressive activity where the end result is less clearly defined by an external source and is instead usually determined by the artist. For example, if you are doing a craft to make a paper box with specific dimensions, the end result may not be perfect, but if you followed the instructions, you should end up with an item that is clearly identifiable as a paper box with a predictable size. An art assignment may be stated this way: “paint a picture of your mother”. About all you know in advance is that the end product will involve paint and possibly something that resembles a woman, but it is the artist who decides what the picture will look like. Although creativity is most often associated with the arts, crafting activities can (and should) be designed to stimulate the imagination and motivate the crafter to think outside the box.

So let’s again visit the possibility that crafts stop being beneficial once children reach school age. Are crafts really a waste a time for older children and adults? I believe crafting remains beneficial throughout a person’s lifetime. I also believe that the most beneficial crafts are those designed to stimulate the imagination i.e. craft-oriented arts or art-oriented crafts. When the benefits of both arts and crafts are married in a single product or activity, you get the most bang for your buck (if you think of learning and developing skills as an investment in yourself or your children).

So how are crafts good for you?

  1. crafts offer an opportunity to practise the skill of following instructions
  2. crafts encourage the development of a practical skill (e.g. cutting, sewing, carving, color coordinating, etc.) that can often be used outside the craft environment
  3. crafts have a clearly defined end point which enables and develops the skill of self-evaluation (i.e. the crafter can compare their progress to their goal or expected outcome throughout the process)
  4. crafts develop patience
  5. crafts offer the reward of a sense of accomplishment once the goal is achieved
  6. crafts offer the opportunity to create practical or useful items, thereby providing a tangible return on the time and money invested in the project
  7. crafts demonstrate, in a practical way, the link between having a goal and taking steps to achieve the goal
  8. crafting helps you de-stress by forcing you to focus on the task at hand and distracting you from thoughts or activities that exacerbate anxiety and depression

If you have the choice, select a craft activity that stimulates your imagination, encourages problem-solving, and requires creative thinking. Next time you have the option to buy entertainment products, consider buying a simple craft kit instead. The benefits of crafting extend well beyond what the average video game or movie can offer you. Crafting is good for you, and you don’t need to be an artist to craft.

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