🌟 The Benefits of Manual Activities
Our digital-dominated daily lives certainly help us perform tasks more quickly, but they also consume a lot of our energy, cloud our thoughts, hinder concentration, and can even have a negative impact on our mental well-being 🌐.
On the other hand, manual activities are making a strong comeback as a counterforce. The COVID-19 lockdown period sparked a renewed interest in hands-on activities and DIY projects. A movement even emerged in San Francisco, bringing together DIY enthusiasts known as the Makers. Knitting, ceramics, embroidery, watercolor painting... These practices, which awaken creativity and stimulate the mind, offer numerous physical and psychological benefits ✨. Let's explore why manual intelligence is essential to complex thinking and how to integrate it into our daily lives!
Around the world, teachers, artisans, manual industry entrepreneurs, researchers, doctors, child development specialists, educators, and cultural institutions are calling for a reassessment of manual skills and the reintegration of regular craft practices into our routines.
Just as regular physical activity maintains good physical health, engaging in manual activities provides true mental relaxation and fosters the much-needed balance of the mind.
🔄 Boosting Concentration and Problem-Solving
Creative activities require strong mental engagement 🧐. Whether it's knitting 🧵, painting 🎨, or sculpting 🌿, these practices enhance concentration while improving the ability to solve various levels of complexity. Beyond disconnection, solving these problems cultivates complex thinking, which is highly useful for navigating today's world. Stepping away from screens, even briefly, allows us to reconnect with the present moment and regain control over our time. Cultivating creativity, trusting our hands, and switching to "airplane mode" are the three best ways to experience authentic and intense moments at our own pace.
🌺 Reducing Stress and Promoting Well-being
Expressing emotions through manual creation helps reduce anxiety and stress 🌟. Studies show that drawing or pottery can have effects similar to meditation 🤨. Creating something with one's hands fosters balance, a sense of accomplishment, and pride. Working with one's hands engages all the senses, freeing the mind and serving as a tool for letting go. This state, known as "Flow," is an intense relaxation phase. The rise of art therapy is one of the most vibrant manifestations of this phenomenon. Finally, the sense of pride that comes with completing a creative project is unmatched.
🧠 Stimulating Memory and Dexterity
Handling materials such as clay, thread, or paper improves coordination ✌️ and stimulates neural connections 🧠. These activities benefit all ages, from enhancing children's development to maintaining cognitive functions in adults. Learning a new craft strengthens brain capacity and increases focus. As artist Pablo Picasso once said: "I am always doing that which I cannot do, in order that I may learn how to do it."
Practicing, unlearning, and relearning are increasingly recognized virtues.
📈 Why This Trend Today?
In a hyperconnected society, many seek to disconnect from screens and social media, rediscover themselves, and refocus 📱🙅♂️. The need to slow down and reconnect with tangible activities has become a priority 💡. We also need to rebuild and nurture physical, real-life connections with those around us and share quality moments. This explains the rise in creative hobbies, particularly tufting (the art of rug-making) 🌟.
For children, incorporating more hands-on activities offers a cognitive boost. It is even possible to combine mathematics with knitting in the same class—calculating while developing dexterity and motor skills. The same goes for making paper, cardboard, or wooden models (papercraft, paper art, or model building), which help children understand volume (3D), spatial geometry, and mathematical proportions.
📚 Creative Activities to Explore
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🧵 Knitting, Crochet, and Embroidery: Improves patience and motor coordination.
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🌿 Ceramics: Soothes the mind, enhances creativity, and fosters material transformation.
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🎨 Watercolor Painting: Encourages spontaneity, focus, and precision.
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📐 Paper Crafting (cf. our Papercrafts): Building paper models or objects offers an immersive experience, whether individually or collectively. Precise assembly enhances patience, accuracy, and the satisfaction of completing a project. Beyond being a relaxing exercise, it develops spatial thinking by helping individuals understand volumes and structures. For example in our Botanic Garden model.
🌟 Conclusion
Incorporating manual activities into daily life means taking care of both mental and physical well-being ✨. The growing trend of career shifts toward craftsmanship reflects this movement. According to Géraldine Canet, a visual artist and art therapy Ph.D.: "Returning to materiality redefines our connection to reality. It also allows us to reconnect with ourselves while sharing with others in group settings."
Restoring manual intelligence at the heart of our lives is more than just a trend—it is a necessity, the most valuable gift we can give ourselves: dedicated time to mastering a craft.
So, are you ready to swap your smartphone for a paintbrush or a ball of yarn? 🚀
Papercraft kit to build yourself: Sushis
Sources
https://sante.lefigaro.fr/article/les-vertus-therapeutiques-des-activites-manuelles
