Don’t we all just need a break from the craziness of our schedules?
I definitely do.
Honestly, things can be so overwhelming sometimes, that’s okay. But it’s important we take time to ourselves and de-stress. You’ll be amazed what 5 minutes of mindfulness and art therapy can do for your mood and mental well-being. Think of it as a mental reset. We’ll go over 7 art therapy activities for stress management you can start making right now (like the image below), their helpful benefits, and how you can get started right away!
Contents
- What are Art Therapy Activities for Stress Management?
- What is a Creative Hobby for Stress Relieving?
- What Art Therapy Exercises are Good for Stress Management?
- What are The Art Techniques for Stress Management?
What are Art Therapy Activities for Stress Management?
Art therapy activities for stress management are visual art activities and prompts that help you process and understand your stress while providing stress relief and a relaxing mental space to be creative.
They are super easy and quick, taking anywhere from 5-15 minutes.
They can use a combination of stress-relieving drawing ideas and art journaling with different mediums of art including pencil, different types of paint, and anything else you can make art with!
What is a Creative Hobby for Stress Relieving?
Creating art though various mediums such as painting, drawing, doodling, traditional collage, digital painting, sculpture, and art journal therapy, are all fantastic creative hobbies for relieving stress and are relaxing art projects for adults and kids.
Arts and crafts for stress management that are calming help get you out of your racing thoughts to focus on the present moment.
5 Calming Art Therapy Exercises for Stress Management
1. Draw Something That Makes You Happy
Time: 5-15 Minutes
What is something that makes you happy? Is it your favorite food, color, a movie, TV show, song, or person?
Whatever it is, try drawing it. Or if that’s too difficult, try sketching something that represents what you’re thinking.
Drawing things that make you feel happy help relieve stress because it puts your mind in a more positive or neutral state. When you think of things that improve your overall mood, you’re more likely to be at ease & calm with your thoughts.
It’s okay if you can’t solve everything right now or if things get a little too complicated. You don’t need to. You can think about that stuff later.
What’s important now or when you’re feeling stressed, is to process your thoughts in a calm way and get your mind in a relaxed.
2. Tracing
Time: 1-15 Minutes
Tracing is a fantastic art therapy activity for stress management because it slows down your mind and thoughts, bringing you into the present.
You don’t need to spend loads of time figuring out what to draw.
Instead, grab a sheet of printer paper (which is slightly transparent) or tracing paper (if you have any lying around), grab whatever photo or image you have on hand, place it underneath your paper, and just start drawing!
When you trace, you actively have something to focus on. This art therapy activity for stress and anxiety is perfect because you’re drawing something that’s already there. It doesn’t take loads of mental energy and is relaxing because you’re just following the lines, going with the flow.
The purpose of this exercise is to concentrate and actively focus on what’s in front of you instead of your thoughts.
If you don’t want to trace something on a sheet paper, you can just try hand-tracing instead. Here’s an article and quick video on Pop Sugar that shows how to trace your hand when you’re feeling stressed or anxious, with no drawing materials in sight!
3. Free Drawing
Time: 5-15 Minutes
Free drawing is the act of drawing but not focusing on drawing anything in particular. It’s one of those effective stress-relieving drawing ideas that frees up your mind and relaxes worrying thoughts.
Your picture can be as abstract and unrecognizable as you’d like, making it a super easy and calming art therapy activity for stress management.
I love drawing something without a specific purpose or goal because it allows me to focus on the process of drawing, not the final image (if there even is one).
Free drawing is a very gestural exercise that pulls you into the present moment.
- Time yourself for at least 5 minutes but no more than 15 when you’re first starting
- You can make any number or variety of marks on a page as you’d like
- Focus on your hand and arm movements, trying to make big strokes
- This allows you to relieve stress from your body physically because you’re working your arm muscles which releases tension and built-up stress from your body
4. Non-Dominant Hand
When’s the last time you tried writing with your non-dominant hand?
For me, a really long time. Think years.
Drawing with your non-dominant hand can be scary. But when doing art therapy, anything goes, so you’re good to go!
Drawing with your non-dominant hand is a fantastic example of art therapy for stress and anxiety because it helps you focus on the present, instead of what tasks you need to do in the future, or worrying about the past.
It puts you into the passenger seat, not the driver’s because when drawing with your non-dominant hand, you lack control over it. When you lack control over something, you’re more likely to let it go and allow things to happen. And a huge part of reducing your stress is letting go of thoughts and feelings that aren’t beneficial to you or your mental health.
So whether you’re left or right-handed, use your other hand and just start scribbling or making marks.
The point of this art therapy activity is to give up control and go with the flow.
Whatever you draw on the paper, just leave it. Don’t try to erase anything.
This makes for happy accidents while guiding your mind to expect the unknown and unexpected. A fantastic and relaxing mental state to reach.
- For 5-15 min., draw with your non-dominant hand. You don’t need to draw anything in particular. Just notice what your hand does and what sort of marks and strokes it makes on a page.
5. Coloring
Time: Only Need 15-30 Minutes but can take longer depending on how big your coloring book is, and if you want to color the whole page. For reference, a 10in x 10in page takes me 2-3.5 Hrs to complete.
Coloring is relaxing. It really helps me slow down my breathing and get me into a better head space.
Coloring is a super easy and relaxing art project for adults and kids because it focuses on repetition of strokes and arm movements. It gives you a very clear and easy goal to accomplish- just color in the lines!
Simplicity and the idea of completing something builds up your self-confidence, making you feel like you accomplished something. This is what art for stress and anxiety is supposed to do. And that’s a wonderful feeling to have!
Coloring forces you to focus on the here and now, making you aware of the present moment. It does so through making you aware of what colors you’re using, what colors blend together, and noticing the lines.
You can grab a coloring book and use it whenever you need a relaxing activity to get rid of your stress. I have one on hand whenever I need a quick mental break from my day-to-day. It really turns things around for me.
6. Make a Stress Drawing About Why You’re Feeling Stressed
Time: 1-10 Minutes
This is a great stress-relieving drawing idea because it forces you to tackle your stress head-on but in a productive and fun way while also helping you process your emotions over what’s causing your stress.
It can even help you figure out how you can solve the cause of your stress next time it pops up.
Write down why you’re feeling stressed.
There is absolutely no wrong answer here. But it’s important to pinpoint it, so you can recognize it if it happens again.
Now, think about why it’s making you stressed.
Draw the reason out in a doodle or sketch. It can be an emoji or a representation of how you’re feeling, through representing it as an object.
Then, you can try drawing something that will make you feel better about your situation. Or you can just write it out. Refer to this drawing next time you feel stressed.
For more art therapy activities that target stress and anxiety, check out these 15 Anxiety Art Therapy Drawing Activities to Help You Feel Calm Now or Natural Stress Relief with Drawing for Beginners & 7 Ways It Halts Stress!
7. Use a Stress Relief Planner
Time: 5-15 Minutes
Nothing beats slowing down and taking a few breaths to collect your thoughts.
Stress can be difficult to deal with. But what can really help these feelings is having something already made for you, that you can revisit and be creative with instantly, without using any more of your mental energy.
And a stress relief planner is the perfect way to do that!
You can take the time to think and process your thoughts by putting them on paper, making it much easier for you to recognize and get through them.
I created a free drawable stress relief cheat sheet specifically for occasions when my stress gets a bit overwhelming. It helps me manage my racing thoughts, slows down my breath, and gets me in a better head space, quickly.
If you want to learn more about it, you can check out the full post Free Planner for Stress Relief right here or click on the image above!
Or if you’d like to grab the stress relief planner right now, just click this link to get your Free Stress Relief Cheat Sheet!
What are the Art Techniques for Stress Management
I’ve made a quick list of art techniques for stress management and quick stress-relieving drawing ideas that you can use.
- Continuous Drawing
- Drawing with only 1 Continuous Line, w/out lifting up your pencil
- Forces you to stay in the present and be aware of your hand movements
- Free Drawing
- Letting Your Hand Guide Your Movements w/out Thinking what You’re Drawing
- Relaxing and puts no pressure on you for the final outcome
- Gestural Movement
- Make Big Strokes on a Page and Go with the Flow of Your Arm/Hand
- Loosens up your stiffness when drawing
- Focus on Precision and Line Control
- Makes You Aware of Every Mark You Make, Forcing You to Concentrate and Be in the Present
- Mindfulness
- Being Aware of the Here and Now, not the Past or Future
- Mixing Colors
- Calming, Relaxing, Fun, and Super Easy
- Different colors can put your mind at ease and relieve stress
- Arm and Wrist Movements
- Large hand movements help physically release pent-up stress in your muscles and provide a light workout, calming you down
More Related Art Therapy Activities & Resources:
- Soothing Art Therapy Activities for Aggression | Post
- Bonding Art Therapy Activities for Couples to Strengthen Your Relationship | Post
- 15 Relaxing Simple Art Therapy Activities for All Skill Levels | Post
- Comforting Indoor Fall Art Therapy Activities to Get You Relaxed | Post
- 10 Expressive Art Therapy Activities to Try Now | Post
- 15 Anxiety Art Therapy Drawing Activities to Help You Feel Calm Now | Post
- Download 9 Free Mood Boosting Art Therapy Drawing Activities for Anxiety | Freebie
- Easy Art Journal Therapy for Beginners | Post
- Free Printable Stress Relief Cheat Sheet | Freebie
- 10 Euphoric Drawing Art Therapy Prompts for Racing Thoughts | Post
- Natural Stress Relief with Drawing for Beginners & 7 Ways It Halts Stress | Post
- The Difference Between Traditional Art Expression vs. Expressive Art Therapy | Post
- 15 Quick Doodles to Draw When You’re Bored | Post
Which of these art therapy activities for stress management work the best for you? Leave your comments below and see you in the next post!
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