Here are five creative crafts to get your mind into shape and start flexing your mental muscles. Try these out when you have time, and you won’t be afraid of getting a bit crafty. These crafts may even help improve brain functions such as spacial memory, analogy creation, and overall ingenuity.
1. Origami
Origami – it’s a craft that can be enjoyed with children, adults, and takes nothing more than a square piece of paper. Origami has been enjoyed for hundreds of years, and it can be a healthy exercise for the part of the brain that works with the rotation of three-dimensional shapes.
Origami paper can be purchased from any craft store. Or, you can make your own paper by cutting paper of any size into a square. While there are many origami how-to booklets available, Youtube has many videos that can fully illuminate the folding process involved in cranes, frogs, penguins, and countless other creatures.
2. Magnet Poetry
Though magnet poetry isn’t exactly a sit-down-and-do-it kind of craft, it offers a fun and easy way to create unusual phrases throughout the day. Rearranging the word magnets and making snapshots of them from time to time can be a fun and creative way to think about the day-to-day. Plus, you’ll never lose track of that winning combination.
Usually you can snag a box of magnet poetry at a bookstore, a local giftstore, or online. It’s fun to mix and match differently themed sets too.
3. Blogging, journaling, or writing
One of the most economical and rewarding creative enterprises of all, writing, can be done in any form you choose. Have an opinion to share as well as knowledge or an interesting perspective? Try starting a blog. You might be amazed at how many people you reach.
If you’re not sure how to get starting, try to set aside at least 15 minutes a day to write. Just sit down with a pen, paper, and as few distractions as you can manage. Like exercise, writing may seem hard at first, but ultimately it will be liberating.
4. Painting and Drawing
Most experts agree that people stop creating art after about age ten. However, even though the act of painting and drawing may be long forgotten for a lot of us, it’s easy to jump back in.
Look for painting or drawing classes at your local school or college. With any luck, the classes will be a once or twice-a-week commitment, with occasional homework assignments. If a class isn’t your style, feel free to go rogue and purchase a few sketchbooks and art markers at your local art store. Set your imagination free!
5. Collage
Before recycling your old magazines, consider this: make a collage! Much like magnetic poetry, the art of rearranging pre-existing artwork or words can be a refreshing activity.
To get started, all you’ll need is a few magazines or books that you don’t mind cutting apart, scissors, as well as a glue stick and tagboard to place your collage on. When first trying collage, a good first exercise is to cut out your favorite colors then arrange those colors to make something new.
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