Creating Calm

  • European Wool Day 2026
  • Classwork
  • Character Design
  • Needle Felting
  • Project Summary
  • Classroom Setup
  • Working after the Design
  • Project Folder
  • Stall Visitor felting after his Design
  • Stall Visitors
  • Visitor Feltworks

As part of our 2025/26 SPHE school project, we explored Wellbeing techniques based on the Irish Department of Education’s recommendations, and compared these to the positive effects of fibre crafting on the student’s mental health.

While the Post-Primary Schools SPHE Health & Wellbeing Curriculum recently underwent comprehensive development, no space has been created for crafting as a Wellbeing component. As we had implemented a large range of behaviour modification measures at our school, we decided to investigate the benefits of fibre crafting for real, long-lasting change.

My students tried breathing, guided meditation and movement breaks. They then defined their emotions through conception exercises and expressed them visually by creating felted characters who represent these feelings.

The students finally assessed and evaluated the effect of all methods on their personal Wellbeing. In our analysis, we found that crafting ranked in first or second place at all times in popularity, usefulness and effectiveness. It satisfies all learning styles and was their preferred activity for a multitude of reasons – the feeling of freedom and of free decision making power, the sound, the body movement, the social aspect, the non-intrusive nature of the activity and accessibility for all. It helped students to focus, to relax physically and mentally, and to build confidence, pride and resilience.

Our project finds its origins in a recent study by Michelle McCabe of ATU Sligo on craft psychology and its positive effects on Wellbeing. As Ireland lacks research evidence for the teenage age group I decided to dedicate our project to investigating this. “Creating Calm” provides a platform to develop a range of positive mental health coping strategies which are appropriate to the interests and needs of teenagers.

We were again invited to introduce our project to a European-wide audience as part of the “Wool4Health” and “Therapeutic Knitting” presentations at European Wool Day on the 28th of March 2026. Please find my presentation video containing the project overview below: