Here on Diary of the Mind, we talk about a lot of different things. From mental health days, academic validation, to all sorts of productivity tips, there is a range of discussion here that is truly helpful. Each one of them is catered to us teenagers, adolescents, and high school students, to help us learn how to live life a little better for ourselves. However, one thing I found myself mentioning quite a bit on here. That thing is hobbies. Hobbies for teens.
However, I never actually directed any of you to somewhere where you can find some of the best and healthiest hobbies you can participate in. And this is not healthy just in terms of physical health or “taking your eyes off the screen” health. It’s also in terms of mental health, which this entire website is all about. The hobbies I have listed have actually been proven to improve your mental health, making them incredibly beneficial to practice. So, here it is. The top 5 hobbies for teens that are not only fun, but also good for your mental health.
#1 – Crochet
Crocheting is one of the best hobbies for teens. Crocheting, as we’ve seen in recent years, is something people are rapidly taking interest in. On TikTok, you see numerous people creating their own swimwear with crochet, or cute little animals. And, as a very avid crocheter myself, I can attest to the fact that it is a very fun and engaging hobby. It is very rewarding to put time and effort into something and get a cute little creation of yours to use as you would like. But it isn’t just fun. It is actually very good for your mental health.
As this study found, crocheting has proven to be beneficial to users in helping their mental wellbeing. It also helps them cope with grief, pain, and the many other intense emotions that come with life. Crochet is an incredibly healthy method of coping as well, since you are simply practicing creativity and creating something for yourself.
How to get started
Getting started with crocheting is a relatively simple task. It is, after all, a pretty cheap hobby with materials readily available nearly everywhere you go. Since I am a crocheter who learnt everything they know simply from YouTube, I’d say these are the easiest steps to start crocheting.
#1 – Get the materials
The first thing you need to do is get all the materials you would need to start crocheting. Don’t worry, this is a pretty simple ordeal. All you need to do is go down to your nearest HobbyLobby or any arts and crafts store. You need to get at least one crochet hook, but I would suggest you get more. Make sure the hooks you get aren’t too thick nor too thin. 4.0 mm – 5.0 mm is what I would suggest. You will also need yarn. Again, like the hook, you don’t want anything too thin or too thick. A worsted weight yarn or your choosing would be the best option.
While the hook and the yarn are the main things you’ll need, there are a few more tools you may want to pick up as well, especially if you plan on keeping this hobby for the long-term. One of those things would be a yarn needle. These needles are thicker than a sewing needle with a much larger eye, making it very effective with yarn. The yarn needle will also be bent at its tip. This is to help pick up stitches in your crochet work. The other thing you may want to pick up is stitch markers. However, these stitch markers can also be substituted with pieces of yarn.
If you plan on making amigurumi, which is making stuffed toys with crochet, then there are a couple more things you’ll probably use. You will need safety eyes, which are eyes that you can insert with a backing into your work. If you don’t find these, don’t worry. There are numerous other options for eyes on your amigurumi, like some simple yarn embroidery. You will also need Polyfill stuffing, or any sort of stuffing you would like to use.
#2 – Find a good tutorial
The next thing you would want to do is learn to crochet. How did I do it? YouTube tutorials. There are so many crochet tutorials online, especially for beginners. So, with so many options, you can figure out for yourself which one works best for you. For example, there is this entire YouTube playlist by Hopeful Turns that includes videos from the very first stitches you need to learn to entire projects you can complete as a beginner.
Find a good time of day, get all your materials in one place, and play one of these tutorials. Take your time with them, too. You will probably find yourself rewinding the same part a million times because you can’t get what exactly they are doing there. That’s fine. Just keepk rewinding and trying until you finally get it.
#3 – Practice, practice, practice
One thing you’re going to find out soon is that you’re probably not going to pick it up soon. It’s going to be a bit confusing, very time-taking, and manybe even a little frustrating. That’s completely normal. You just need practice and bring your fingers to crochet with muscle memory. Just keep pushing through and don’t lose sight of the goal. What goal? Well, to have a hobby that you can enjoy. Once you get the hang of crocheting, you will enjoy it. You can take my word for it.
#2 – Painting and Drawing
Other incredible hobby on this list of hobbies for teens is visual art. Painting and drawing probably seem like pretty basic hobbies, ones that you would’ve already tried. However, there is so much more to them that you will want to know. For one, painting and drawing isn’t just about creating art work, or learning to make art. It can actually be used to regulate your emotions.
People use numerous activities to distract themselves from distressing emotions, such as anger and sadness. They might binge eat, watch TV, use social media, or do the many other not-so-healthy habits that are common in distressing situations. However, there are healthy habits to cope with situations and emotions like those, one of them being drawing and painting. In this study, it was found that drawing as a distraction actually helped regulate intense emotions such as sadness and anger. This other study on painting found that painting therapy helped greatly with mental health issues. The anxiety, depression, and mood swings scores all dropped immensely after the usage of art therapy, which was not the case with the group without art therapy.
How to get started
Painting and drawing are simple to do by yourself as well, making it a great hobby for improving your mental health. Oftentimes, you don’t even have to go out and buy supplies. You can use the stuff lying around your house. A lot of times, people like to brush it off as “I’m not an artist”, or “I don’t draw”. That’s a misconception. Anyone can draw if they put their mind to it.
In my experience, I was never particularly inclined to drawing and painting. Sure, my mom would have us watch painting tutorials to paint things on the canvas, but I was never particularly interested in it. However, I was most definitely a writer. I loved imagining all my stories in my head, creating fascinating plots, characters, and scenes all inside my head. At some point, I wanted to visualize my imagination on paper, especially after exposing myself to more art than just paintings. I started drawing, watching YouTube videos of people drawing or studying others’ artistic styles.
My sketches weren’t immediately amazing, of course. They still aren’t. But I can confidently say that I’ve gotten significantly better. I didn’t do much more than just sketch my imagination on paper, and I still don’t do much more than that. I hardly even draw in my sketchbook. The majority of my sketching is done on the back of random worksheets and paper. Still, I gain the benefits of drawing, and so can you.
#1 – Get the materials
Like pretty much any activity, you need the material first. However, unlike other activities, you don’t need to really go anywhere to get anything, especially if you’re thinking of sketching. For that, all you need is a pencil, eraser, and some paper. It doesn’t even need to be sketchbook paper. As I’ve already told you, most of my sketches are on the backs of random worksheets.
If you want to try painting, you can go down to HobbyLobby, any other craft store, or even Amazon online to get some good paint and paint brushes. If you really want to get into painting, then I’d suggest getting good quality brushes and paints, not the cheap ones. Also think about what kind of paintings you’d like to make. Is it acrylic or watercolor? Or is it all of them? Collect your materials based on that.
#2 – Find a tutorial OR inspiration
Next you need something to do with those materials, something that allows you to draw and paint, and if you’re a beginner, you’re gonna need some tutorials. There are numerous drawing and painting tutorials online, especially on YouTube. I find they can be especially helpful with painting, since using colors properly is something that you are probably not fully aware of. Eventually, you won’t need them anymore and you can just paint freeform in any way you would like.
Drawing, for me at least, is a bit different. A lot of times, it is a little easier to just freehand. You can draw random shapes to form a pattern without tutorials, or bouquets of flowers. The most you would need is a reference photo, or some inspiration on what to draw. You can find that with a simple Google search or, even better, on Pinterest. However, it’s different when you want to draw animals or people, because then, you need a sense of anatomy. What I find to be most helpful is watching people’s tutorials on how they draw humans and animals, especially from those whose styles I’d like to replicate.
#3 – Keep trying
The final thing you need to remember is to keep going at it. It’s gonna probably be ugly at first. I rmeember drawing a lot and getting frustrated that it wasn’t turning out right. That’s okay. All you have to do is keep trying. And the truth is, it doesn’t matter what your art looks like. The reason you’re practcing this hobby is for yourself and your mind. Whether pretty or ugly, your art is emant to help your mental health, not look good.
And just remember—you don’t have to be an “artist” to create art. One important lesson I have learnt throughout my life is that art is innate. Everyone has the potential to be great at art. Whether or not you act on that potential is up to you. The message here is this: art is something that is inherently human. Do not believe you are not capable of it. As long as you are a human being, you can create art. Here is how you can start.
#3 – Journaling
Journaling is a pretty known topic on here, but that’s because it is definitely one fo the bets hobbies for teens. Journaling is an activity that is not only easy, but amazing for your mental health. Journaling is essentially just writing daily in a notebook. You write about your emotions, events of the day, or pretty much whatever is on your mind. Journaling helps you regulate your emotions and thoughts. In fact, the benefits are so extensive that I have an entire article on journaling as therapy.
How to do it
Journaling, as I’ve already said, is quite simple. It’s easy to prepare for, easy to start, and easy to continue. In fact, it is probably one of the easiest hobbies on this list for you to do, and also one of the most helpful for your mental wellbeing. I have outlined specific steps to journaling properly in my article on journaling. However, here are some of the simplified versions of the steps.
#1 – Pick a time to write
You need to pick a time for you to write daily. The first step, of course, is getting a journal, but since that is obvious, we’ll just start here. Pick a time that you will come down daily to write, as well as the length of time. I’d suggest writing for around 15-30 minutes everyday, and you can choose when you would like to. Is it in the morning, starting off fresh reflecting on your feelings for the upcoming day? Do you want to come home from school and immediately write about whatever you’d liek to talk about? Or is it at night, when the day is over and you can talk about everything that has happened? Just keep a set time so you don’t ever forget.
#2 – Pick something to write about
The next thing you need to do is pick something to write about. This can change daily of course. Just have an idea in mind so you’re not staring at a blank page the entire time. You can choose from talking about your feelings and emotions, about your day, or even just about topics you want to write about. Anything that’ll let you free up your mind a bit is a good idea to write about.
#3 – Keep it consistent
You want to do this daily. You want to do this regularly. While there’s nothing wrong with skipping a few days, the results only get better if you keep at it. So everyday, make sure you don;t forget to journal. The consistency you build up with your journaling is what will truly help you engage in the hobby the best you can and truly improve your mental health.
Conclusion
Here are just a few hobbies, but incredible hobbies for your mental health. They are simple to do for teens, and also very fun once you get the hang of it. When you do these hobbies, you will be doing them long-term, and it’s hard not to like them either.
But why do we need hobbies at all? Well, they give you something to enjoy. Everything in life, from sleeping, eating, to going to school all serve a purpose in your life. They all fulfill a need of yours. But that doesn’t mean you like doing them. In fact, doing the stuff you need to do is often very unenjoyable. Hobbies are things you don’t need to do, but ones you want to do. That’s what makes them so important. They give the enjoyment you need in life. In life, you survive with what you need, but you can only live with what you enjoy.
So, what are you waiting for? Start your new hobbies and truly “live” your life!
