It doesn’t get more one-of-a-kind than when you make it yourself. Crafts also come with countless benefits aside from making the envy of all pencil cases. When children come together in a non-competitive environment, it promotes camaraderie. Says Erika Allen, founder of Make Modern, a crafting workshop in Darien, Connecticut, “Kids are really nice to each other when they are in a crafting environment. In our model, everyone is going to leave with something fantastic. It’s different from the way we think of athletics or schoolwork.” Crafting as a group may be non-competitive but there still is that drive for success, the desire to make the best craft you can without the pressure, and everyone comes away with an art project without having a final winner.
Erika Allen of Make Modern arranging some of the featured crafts. We’re loving that penguin.
Crafting allows for a pause moment, it’s a thoughtful process that is both relaxing and creative. Says Erika, “There are ways your mind is exercised and your hands are exercised and your eyes are exercised that don’t easily show up in other things that you do. For example, why you would sew a little pillow inside out? What is the advantage of doing that? It is a way of asking your mind to manipulate an object in your head.”
The basic tools to create something beautiful and handmade.
What better way to escape the everyday dependency of our devices than with arts and crafts? It’s an outlet from the digital world, outside stresses, and the omniscient presence of the pandemic. “Everything in our current life is not real,” says Erika. “Material is real: Not materialistic, materialist. I see the delight in that. Handcrafting, knitting, sewing and needlepoint focus your mind.”
Resources:
Crafting Studio: Make Modern
Children and the Importance of Art podcast: happy healthy
