The past year has been quite tough for most people. The COVID-19 pandemic has forced people to self-isolate, reducing our socializing and it is a well-known fact that humans are social creatures. It is even more crucial that older adults do what they can to stay active in both mind and body and keep themselves occupied. One of the most optimal ways for you to stay active during this period of uncertainty is to get into interesting arts and crafts activities. Indeed, there are several benefits to arts and crafts, one of them being that it helps combat depression and loneliness and can also help you to avoid isolating yourself socially.
Improves Mental Health
Arts and crafts require concentration and focus and can help strengthen your mind. Arts and crafts help cognition and regulate emotions of anxiety, loneliness, and depression. This ensures you stay mentally active.
Better Cognitive Health
When one engages in arts and crafts, they unlock their creative sides, and this results in better cognitive health. You will develop innovative thinking, which helps mitigate chances of you suffering from Alzheimer’s disease or dementia, which is common for older adults.
Improves Physical Health
Believe it or not, arts and crafts can help improve your physical health! Arts and crafts can help increase fine motor skills with control of art utensils like brushes, pencils, etc. These activities positively impact the nervous system. Arts and crafts can even control your heart rates, keeping them low and soothing the nerves. With higher concentration, older adults will be more cautious and tend to avoid slips or falls. They also require less heart medication with controlled heart rates.
Improve Overall Happiness
You don’t have to be Picasso to do arts and crafts. It’s not about perfection: it’s about having an enjoyable time, expressing yourself in a medium such as art. Older adults often, after having taken up arts and crafts, look forward to their next session. They feel higher levels of satisfaction and art can be fun and exciting. Art can give you a sort of happiness and fulfillment that can be hard to come by and increases your well-being.
Increased Social Interaction
If you live at home alone, you might find it difficult to find like-minded people who share the same interests as you. However, when you engage in activities like dance therapy or virtual arts and crafts workshops, you can have the opportunity to make friends and socialize on a regular basis. This is especially important now, in the COVID-19 pandemic period.
At Aston Gardens At Sun City, we plan and lead many activities and events that are sure to meet everyone’s needs. Contact us or schedule a tour to learn more!
