Exercises to Increase Creativity

Originally published May 15, 2017

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I’ve combined a list from different sources (see the bottom for all links) on some of the ways to increase creativity and let it flow. Some of these I tried on the spot quickly (I’m working in a short time frame), while others I’ll save for later. Let me know what you tried, and show us the results! Add to this list if you can.

1. Draw something out of the blue. It can be anything, but sit down and do it. No erases, no judgement, just draw.

2. Draw an apple a day for a week, but each day use a different technique to draw it!

3. Get some colouring pencils. Use Paul Smith’s method to draw parallel lines, then colour them in with your new pencils.

4. Sketch or write ideas that pop into your head while listening to music.

5. Make something interesting with the objects on your desk (or wherever you are right now).

6. Construct something kindy-style with the objects in your recycle bin.

7. Find a word in the dictionary, then pick the word before and after. With those three words combined, write a short story using them.

8. See how many things you can make with paperclips in 5 minutes.

9. Word associations, but find new ways to come up with the words.

10. Draw something in sight, but don’t look at the paper until it’s done!

11. Write a poem about your day in a poem.

12. Note something you want to solve in a notebook just before you go to sleep. Sleep on it, and when you wake up write down immediately all the ideas you came up with.

13. Make and play with some Playdo.

14. Look at the clouds and imagine them as things.

15. Cover your desk/table with large easel paper, and draw and write notes and doodles until it’s full.

16. Experiment in the kitchen.

17. Draw something without lifting your pen.

18. Take a new route home and take photos of the different things you see along the way.

19. Put tracing paper over a portrait of someone you admire, then draw them.

20. Write a letter to someone without using the words I, me, mine, my.

21. Occasionally, answer yes to any (reasonable) request for the duration of the day.

22. Shift your eyes back and forth horizontally for 30 seconds.

23. Watch and listen to TED talks on creativity.

24. Fold a paper into quarters (2×2 or 4×1), then draw ¼ of a person in one of the quadrants. Give the paper to someone else, who draws another ¼ without looking at your ¼. You can overlap slightly when you’ve finished your ¼ to allow each ¼ to match up. If you have no one to do this activity with, do multiple pages, and randomly pull them from a hat every day and add an uncompleted ¼ to the randomly selected one.

25. Write a short story using creative writing prompts.

26. Write your thoughts in free flow, and get as crazy as you can.

27. Find some apps for creativity.

28. Be creative with different things (e.g. watery paint and salt).