Crafts and creativity are proven to help ease stress and combat anxiety. Working with your hands and taking time to be creative can boost your mood, keep your brain sharp, and even help alleviate the symptoms of depression, anxiety, sleeplessness, and stress.
We have a couple of our favourite crafts for anxiety below, and these DIY coping tool projects are useful for people of all ages. These projects were chosen specifically to help out with the symptoms of everyday anxiety. If you’re in need of immediate help, please contact The Distress Centre.
DIY Glitter Jars
Glitter jars are homemade coping tools that can help us calm down and focus on being in the moment rather than what is stressing us out about tomorrow or yesterday. This craft is easy and fun to recreate at home and will provide a useful mindfulness tool and technique to your child or teenager – and yourself!
We can use glitter jars to practice mindfulness. Shake the jar for a few seconds and place it down on a flat surface where you can watch the glitter settle. As the glitter settles, we also let it settle us. We can shake it and watch it settle as many times as it takes us to feel calm.
What you’ll need:
- Mason jars
- Assorted glitter
- Glue (glitter or white)
- Hot water
- Food colouring (optional)
How to Make Your Glitter Jar:
- Step 1: Put hot water in your mason jar, filling about halfway
- Step 2: Put two tablespoons of glue into the jar
- Step 3: After putting the lid on, give the jar a good shake to break up the glue, or find something to stir with
- Step 4: Fill the jar with assorted glitter until about a ½ inch layer forms on the bottom
- Step 5: Fill the jar the rest of the way up with more hot water (leave about 1 inch of room at the top – for shaking room)
- Step 6: Add more glitter and food colouring as desired
Time to try out your creation! When you are watching the glitter settle, the idea is that you cannot focus on the past or the future, which can negatively affect our mental health, and only can focus on the present.
Let the floating glitter soothe your mind and reduce immediate stressors!
Watch an instructional video on our YouTube channel.
Stress Ball
Stress balls are a tool to relieve anxiety, stress and other mood disorders. Stress balls help relax us by taking tension out of our hands. If you or your child experience stress or anxiety, this is a great coping tool to create together. In this guide, you will learn how to make your own stress ball at home to practice mindfulness and relieve overwhelming feelings.
What you’ll need:
- Balloons (minimum 2)
- Filing (Flour, sugar, or seeds, etc.)
- Funnel
- Scissors
- Sharpies (optional – for decoration)
How to Make Your Stress Ball:
- Step 1: Take a balloon and stretch it as much as possible.
- Step 2: Fill the balloon with your chosen filling using the funnel
- Step 3: Tie the balloon tightly for the child
- Step 4: Take a second balloon and cut the ‘neck’ of it off using scissors (Note: this balloon should be a colour your child likes as it will be the colour of the stress ball)
- Step 5: Stretch the second balloon well
- Step 6: Stretch the second balloon over the filled balloon (Note: put the outside balloon on so the opening is at the other end from the tied end)
- Step 7: Use sharpies to decorate the stress ball
Find more carya programs for youth and exploring your creativity here.
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Let’s build a stronger Calgary for generations to come, together!