Despite the academic workload and complex projects, each of us tries to find creative hobbies—something that distracts from routine affairs, relaxes, and helps to find new impressions. Hobbies and interests are a very important part of a person’s life because they influence leisure time, good mood, desire to learn new things (without coercion), and formation of character and habits.
What if we told you that hobbies can be more than just creative activities; they can also affect your psychological and physical state? We agree, this probably won’t come as a surprise to you. However, how do you choose a useful and enjoyable hobby when the choice is so great? We decided to help and made a selection of 4 cool hobbies that help impact learning.
Before we get to interesting hobbies for college students, it is worth saying that doing creative crafts can take up quite a lot of time. If this happens and you do not have enough time to study, there are several ways to solve this problem. For example, you can use an AHelp tool to write your essay quickly or ask for help with some math problems on special forums.
Pottery
Pottery is gaining popularity every year – and this is not without reason. Such type of hobby is very intense and includes many stages that train our character and impact academic performance:
- Developing an idea for how the product will look is an excellent way to develop imagination, cognitive skills, and the creative component of the personality.
- Preparing a workplace and working with your hands is the most important switch from brain activity to manual.
- Baking the product is patience in its purest form.
- Painting and subsequent drying is creativity, patience and planning – the future appearance of the plate or sculpture depends on your paints.
- Getting the finished product is a pleasant feeling when you can use the result of your work in everyday life.
There are many pottery schools where you can both get a full-fledged profession and come at a convenient time to maintain a hobby.
Sewing
Sewing allows you to switch from the digital world to the real one. The statistics are relentless: we spend too much time in front of screens. Working with real materials, such as fabric, “switches” you into the world of tactile sensations, allowing your brain to reboot; thus, it helps reduce stress levels and boost learning.
In addition, sewing develops fine motor skills, which, it turns out, are important not only for children but also for adults. Regular work with miniature objects, such as pins and buttons, reduces age-related changes in the brain and has a positive effect on life expectancy.
Scrapbooking
Scrapbooking influences the development of creative abilities. Using modern methods, techniques, and technologies, it forms elements of technical and artistic thinking, as well as design abilities.
Recently, applied scrapbooking has become popular. This is the production of postcards, envelopes, boxes, and crafts using various scrapbooking techniques. The skills and abilities acquired in the classes will allow students not only to develop creatively but also to please their loved ones with masterpieces of their handicrafts. That’s why this is one of the best crafts for students.
Knitting
Scientists have proven that knitting is a simple way to exercise your brain. During such training, the brain remains active since both mental and physical components are involved. In addition, active finger movements stimulate fine motor skills. Hands become dexterous, and this is already a preventative measure against arthritis.
It has long been known that the tips of our fingers contain a large number of nerve endings. That’s why any meticulous activity with hands awakens brain work. This is very useful for children as they develop speech and thinking. Knitting, no matter what method, instills in children attentiveness, perseverance, a love of work, persistence, and discipline. This type of hobby stimulates educational growth.
How hobbies impact learning
You have probably heard that logical problems are solved by the left hemisphere of the brain, creative problems by the right, and each person is dominated by one or the other. Many are familiar with this statement, which closes the doors to the world of creativity in front of half of humanity: sorry, crafts is not for you. However, neurobiologists have long refuted such a simplified view of the work of the human brain.
The hemispheres work in a coordinated manner and “communicate” with each other, performing any complex task. Creativity is just such a task. If we paint a picture, our brain turns to imagination, spatial analysis, visual perception, aesthetic evaluation, and mathematical calculations. Both hemispheres are always involved in these processes at once. Thanks to their coordinated work, creative activities develop our brains. Let’s figure out how this happens.
The role of hobbies in student success
Creative activities develop neural networks in the brain. If we dance or draw, embroider, or sculpt from clay, those parts of the brain that “sleep” during routine activities are activated. At this moment, the interaction between different parts of the brain is enhanced. Constantly training, the brain creates and strengthens new neural networks between different areas so we become smarter. Our cognitive abilities—memory and thinking—develop.
It turns out that children should not be sent to studios and clubs so that everyone becomes a famous pianist or artist. Playing a musical instrument, painting, or dancing are activities that “pump up” the brain to work in a coordinated manner and solve other intellectual problems. Since new neural connections are formed even in old age, it is never too late to choose a creative hobby.
Learning through crafts keeps the brain young. By performing such complex tasks, brain activity does not fade with age. Painting, modeling, or pottery—everything that requires fine motor skills—slows down age-related changes and preserves our intelligence!
Arts and crafts develop speech. The areas responsible for speech and hand motor skills are located close to each other in the cerebral cortex, which is why our hands are so often involved in communication.