Whether you’re looking to learn something new or to give a gift with a personal touch, crafting is a great way to show someone you care. Creating with your hands helps sharpen your creative thinking and provides the opportunity to express yourself. It can also help to relieve mental stress and allow you to step outside of your everyday worries for a while. It’s no wonder that 77% of CEOs believe creative thinking is the most important skill to have.

The art of making is a process that requires patience. It teaches children to read instructions, wait for a glue stick to dry before moving on to the next step, and to take a break between projects (or to eat lunch or go to sleep). Crafting can also teach kids to be flexible when it comes to their plans, allowing them to change course in the middle of a project if they think that an alternative is a better idea. Ultimately, it teaches them that it is okay to try and fail, but to keep trying until they achieve success.

Many types of materials can be used to create handmade items. Some of the most common are found around the house, while others are available at craft stores or online. Choosing the right material for a project will depend on the intended use, age of the user, and the available resources. Here are a few of the most popular crafting materials to get you started:

Marble

Marble is an igneous rock, formed from cooling lava as it cooled on the surface of the Earth. It is a soft and malleable material that can be carved into beautiful sculptures and figures. Marble is available in a variety of colors and strengths, so it can be used to make a wide range of artistic creations.

Clay

Polymer clay is an extremely versatile medium that can be molded, shaped, and textured to produce a wide variety of artworks. It is especially popular for the creation of miniatures and models. Polymer clay is available in a number of different colors, and it can be baked to harden the finished product.

Ribbon Scraps

Ribbon scraps can be used to create a variety of art and sensory toys. They can be grouped by color family and used to weave sensory pom poms, or they can be used to create decorative wall hangings. Alternatively, they can be used to create a unique garland for a baby shower.

The beauty of crafting is that it can be done with any type of material, from recycled and trashy items to natural ones like flowers, leaves, and bark. To encourage creativity, consider using different types of tools to create your artwork, and challenge yourself to find innovative ways to use old items. For example, turn a sheet of paper into a book cover or create a picture frame with an upcycled bottle cap. This will help students learn to look at objects differently and discover how they can be repurposed into something else.