6 Beginner-Friendly Hobbies to Try This Spring

Paper Flower Crafting

Paper flower crafting is the art of creating colorful flowers from materials such as crepe paper, cardstock, and even coffee basket filters.  “What I love most about it is that you’re essentially recreating nature with simple supplies and a bit of patience,” says Chelsea Barton, a craft expert and author of Cricut Weddings, a DIY book. “With just crepe paper, green floral wire, glue, floral tape, and a little optional chalk pastel for petal coloring, you can build flowers that look charming and oftentimes realistic.”

Container Gardening

This springtime hobby is accessible across all ages and locations, and it’s one of the best ways to usher in the warm weather. Plus, at the end, you’ll have either some delicious herbs to season your meals, beautiful flowers to showcase or gift, or some tasty produce. “I love that this hobby meets you exactly where you are, whether that's a tiny balcony or a full backyard, and it gives you a reason to go outside every single day,” Dr. Hafeez says. 

She adds that tending to something living gives you a gentle sense of responsibility that feels good rather than overwhelming. And it can be really exciting and satisfying to see your plants grow over time.

Whimsical Baking

Baking is a great hobby year-round, but there’s something about springtime that makes you want to play with color, textures, designs, and even different ingredients. Think: multitiered cakes with sliced strawberries and edible florals, a lightweight pavlova topped with fresh fruit, sunshine-y lemon bars with a tasty spring zing, or pastel-colored macarons in flavors like matcha, blueberry, and raspberry rose. 

You could also work on perfecting springtime classics like carrot cake or rhubarb pie. And if you’re not into sweets, consider decorated focaccia or sourdough bread scoring art. With so many bright and delicious ingredients coming back into season, and myriad ways to decorate, spring baking lends itself to creativity with the tastiest reward at the finish line. 

Wax Sealing

Handwritten notes, folding techniques, and wax seals are a blast from the very distant past, and this centuries-old art is enjoying a modern-day renaissance. "You can create beautiful, bespoke seals for cards, wedding invitations, party stationery, or gift boxes," Barton says. "It’s also easily customizable; you can use different colors and add little details like dried petals for a personalized touch."

Saving the Butterflies

Butterfly populations have declined across the globe over the last few decades, largely due to habitat loss, climate change, and pesticide and fertilizer use. Just as people came together to boost bee populations, communities are uniting to save butterflies.

Pickleball

With the weather warming up, spending as much time outdoors and with friends just makes sense. Dr. Hafeez says that now’s a great time to try your hand at increasingly popular pickleball, or pick up where you left off last time you played. 

“It's like tennis and ping pong had a baby. You play on a smaller court with a paddle and a wiffle-style ball, and the learning curve is genuinely easy enough that you can have fun on your first day,” she says. “What I love about it is that it's social, people are incredibly welcoming to beginners, and it has this infectious energy that makes you forget you're even exercising.”