Gifts for Graduates

There’s nothing more exciting than living on a farm during spring. The birds are chirping with glee, the entire landscape comes to life with vibrant colors, and the mild weather makes all the time spent outdoors that much more enjoyable!

But there’s one more thing about this time of transformation that’s really got me thinking. Graduation season is here! Can you believe it? When you’re a parent, you can blink, and suddenly they’ve gone from crawling to creating their first macaroni-necklace.

If you’ve got a kiddo who’s leaving town to start their college career, I’m sure you’re experiencing all of the emotions. And as you plan graduation celebrations and scour the aisles of Walmart for gear for their dorm room, there’s one more thing you might want to sneak into their bag before they hit the road—a needle felting kit!

Yep, you heard that right. While this might not be the most conventional present, it’s the gift that keeps on giving. Your rockstar student will love hanging in the dorm lounge while working on their latest needle felted creation.

With all of the well-wishes, balloons, and gift cards, your kid will love something a little more heartfelt to send them off to college. Here are a few reasons why a needle felting kit is the ultimate grad gift.

Positive Downtime

We’ve all seen the out of control college students that create great storylines for blockbuster movies and hilarious sitcoms. And while all students don’t go wild as soon as they hit the campus, your son or daughter will have so many more distractions than they did in high school.

Help them build a routine that will boost their energy and provide constructive downtime, ensuring that sheer boredom doesn’t thrust them into the wrong decisions…or the wrong group of friends.

Instead of binging an entire season of the latest Netflix show or texting until they’re dizzy, students can enjoy a break from their studies while boosting creative levels and turning a hobby into a habit. Plus, it’s also a fantastic way to make new friends! Nothing is a better conversation starter than a needle felted squirrel in the middle of the Student Union.

Wellness

Anxiety and depression, they’re terms we hear all too often nowadays, and they’re especially prevalent for our youth! With constant comparisons on social media and the ever-rigorous course load of college, this time for your child is one of growth, but it doesn’t come without roadblocks.

Crafting can help your student stay positive and creative! Crafting has similar effects of meditation, making it easy for creators to lose themselves for hours as they work on the project at hand. Scientists are starting to uncover what crafters have known since the beginning. When we are creative, we are living more fully!

Repetitive motions, like the constant stabbing in needle felting, activate the parasympathetic nervous system, which quiets the “fight or flight” response that keeps us stressed in our daily lives.

So, will crafting alleviate all of the challenges your child will face as they transition into adulthood? No, of course not. But, it can be a positive outlet where they can release the stress of their day and hone in on a project that gets their dopamine levels pumping and their creative juices flowing!

A Piece of You

We argue with our teens, they scoff at our music choices, and they negotiate with our rules, but as soon as they leave the nest, they’re looking for pieces of home in everything they do.

By giving your student a needle felting kit for graduation, you’ll open up a world of possibilities for them, while also leaving a small part of you in each piece they create.

If you have a crafter who wants to expand their skill set, we’d love to have them in our Bear Creek Felting Academy! After sign-up, they’ll receive instant access to a library of tutorial videos, a bustling community of crafters, and direct feedback from me.

I love watching young crafters become skilled creators, and I know your son or daughter will enjoy being part of this growing community. If you’d like to give your child a gift that they can take with them for the rest of their life, click here & register today!