Therapeutic Art:  3 Simple 20-minute Projects

Last Updated on January 12, 2023 by Tracey McGrath

Therapeutic art is a simple and easy way to cultivate creativity and reduce stress. It’s also a great way to practice non-judgment which leads to a better sense of self-acceptance. These therapeutic art activities are all 20 minutes or less and promote letting go, having fun, and being creative in the moment.

What is Therapeutic Art?

Therapeutic art utilizes basic creativity skills that you already have to explore yourself and promote relaxation. These simple activities can easily be incorporated into any self-care practice. I use therapeutic art in addition to my daily meditation and journaling practices.

Therapeutic art is any creative activity that combines your physical body and some form of creation. Coloring is a great example of therapeutic art. It involves using your hands to move the crayons or pencils on the page. And it creates a beautiful array of colors on the page. As you’ll notice with practice, your mind will start to disconnect from the end result and start to flow in the process.

Art as Therapy?

Art therapy is different in some ways from therapeutic art activities.   A licensed trained therapist provides art therapy.  And art therapy usually targets a specific issue or traumatic event.  Art therapy helps people deal with strong emotions, and increases self-awareness and self-worth.  It also decreases stress and anxiety.³ 

With therapeutic art activities, we are looking to create a sense of peace by listening to our inner voice.  The activities themselves can be fun and relaxing!   Such as watching paint flow and blend across a page.  And the insight you gain from your reactions as you do the exercise is priceless.    

Even though I’m not a trained art teacher or therapist I use art as a form of my own personal therapy.  It has taught me about my inner critic and how to silence it with love.  It has also taught me to play and to enjoy the process of creation.  

I use my therapeutic art activities to let go of my to-do lists and responsibilities just for a moment. I also love gaining insight into myself and how I react and respond to various situations. Much like my meditation and journaling practicing I see therapeutic art as a crucial part of my self-care. Check out my article on the benefits of journaling too! Or grab a free guided meditation to kick start your meditation practice! For more info on how to start your meditation practice check out my article Meditation is Key to Becoming Blissful!    

And best of all therapeutic art is fun!  I love to have friends over to join me for these fun and soul-discovering activities.

Why Do We Do Art?

“But I’m not creative or artistic at all”, you say.  Fear not, my friend!  This isn’t about your artistic abilities!  ANYONE can do these fun and simple art projects.

I believe that we are ALL creative beings and have within us the capacity to create.   Our past may be full of discouraging voices.  Oftentimes art isn’t seen as a valuable activity after we pass a certain age.  And art is certainly not thought of as a viable career option for many. 

But art is one of our primal needs!

Humans have been creating art for thousands of years.  Actually for about 17,000 years according to the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History.⁴ It’s a way that we process and express our emotions.  A way we can tell our story.  

Does Therapeutic Art Take Practice?

Yes, art and being creative takes practice just like everything else.  Some people are more prone to create than others but joy can be found in creating for ANYONE.

I believe we are all creators.  Maybe for you, it’s with baking or writing or gardening. We are full of life energy that wants to see our ideas and visions expressed. It’s fear of not being good at it that often stops us from creating art or doing something creative.

The truth is a lot of what we create won’t be worthy of the Louvre. But that’s not the point. The point is in the practice. The practice is what reduces stress and promotes letting go of judgment. The practice is the only way to get over the fear of not being good enough.

Practicing non-judgment with therapeutic art can help you to practice it in other areas of your life as well.  

Therapeutic Art Activities

Let’s get started with these 3 fun and simple activities!  You can do these solo or with a group of friends.  I have created 3 simple therapeutic art activities that I really hope you will enjoy.

#1- Your “Unique Likes” Board

This isn’t exactly a dream board and it isn’t exactly a joy board.  I love both of those activities and totally encourage everyone to do both.  In case you’re not familiar with joy boards, it’s basically making a board of things you like right here, right now.  Mine has photos of a cabin in the snow, artist paints, striped shirts, kittens, the beach, party dresses….anything that makes me smile! 

I learned about joy boards from Ingrid Fetell Lee.  She is a designer researching how our environment and homes can boost our moods.  Check out her amazing book, Joyful.    

With this exercise, we’re looking for anything that sparks your interest.  It doesn’t have to be something that you want to have or do.  It can be something that intrigues you, excites you, or mystifies you. Things that generally give you a little buzz of excitement when you see it or a sense of calm joy.  

#1 – Grab a bunch of magazines.  If you’re doing this exercise with friends, ask them to bring old magazines too.  Their magazines may be different genres and topics than yours.  And you may discover new things that draw your attention.  

Put some music on and pour some wine if that’s your thing!  Now set a timer for 15 minutes.   

Pull out any images that spark something in you.  You don’t need to explain why.  Just pull them out as you are drawn to them.  It could be the colors or the image itself or the design or the words.  Whatever.  Keep pulling until the time is up!

#2 – Again set a timer for 15 minutes.  And look through your pages.  Are there any similarities?  What colors keep showing up?  Any words that appear more than once?  What do you feel when you look at these images?  

Write these thoughts and observations down on a separate piece of paper. Just bullet point. This doesn’t need to be pretty. 

#3 – Set a timer for 10 minutes.  Cut out pieces from your pages that you’d like to collage.  They could be words or even just letters.  Cut out an eye or the lips from a face.  Abstract images are ok too!  Glue your cutouts onto a piece of cardboard or sturdy poster board.  

Take a step back and look at your board.  What do you see now?  Is anything interesting popping out?  If you’re doing this activity with friends, exchange your board with someone else.   Then each of you will provide at least 3 descriptive words for the other’s board.

Sometimes there are things that we cannot see but are so clear to someone else.    

You can also do a board like this using Unsplash.com or Pexels.com.  These sites have tons of free photos.  Then use Canva to create a digital board. Canva is the dream graphic art program! So easy to use and create beautiful graphics.   

I have done both and prefer the hands-on approach.  It activates different parts of our brains.  Plus, I highly encourage decreasing the use of tech whenever possible. 

Sign up to get a FREE downloadable guide to creating your Unique Likes Board here!   

#2-Watercolor Mind/Body Activity:

This activity requires special tissue paper and watercolor paper.  The tissue paper has to be the kind that will bleed onto the paper.  

Choose a few different colors and either cut or tear them into fairly large pieces.  Then you’ll arrange them on an 11″x15” or 18″x24″ piece of watercolor paper (or thick drawing paper is ok too).  Grab a brush (any kind will do!) and a cup of water.  Apply water all over the tissue paper until it’s fully soaked.  

Then let dry.  

Here’s a great opportunity to move on to the next activity or take a break and have a bite to eat or a tasty drink!

Once the paper is dry you can remove the pieces of tissue paper.  You’ve created a beautiful color-washed background for your drawing!

Now draw a face shape or a circle or triangle…something that represents your mind/head in some way.  

Choose a word that you’d like to add to your mind.  For example Peace, Calm, Joy, and Ease.

Then next to that drawing you’ll draw another shape that represents your body…a circle, a pear, a hexagon.  Whatever you like.

And now you’ll choose a different word that you’d like to feel in your body.  Relax, Wisdom or Fun are all great options.  

Now you’ll use a very thin pointed black pen (like Micron pens) to write those words as many times as you can in your shapes.  Mind words go in your head shape and body words go in your body shape.  Just choose one word for each area and write it over and over in that corresponding shape.  

Now consider what are some ways that you can add your word into your head and body? 

If you chose Peace for your mind word then maybe you could try to meditate for 3 minutes a day for one week.  Check out my article on how to start your meditation practice to get started TODAY! 

What are some ways that you can feel your body word?  If you chose “Relax” for your body word, brainstorm ideas that you think would help you to relax.  You could schedule a massage, do yoga once a day per week, or a bubble bath one night this week.  Those are some ideas that sound relaxing to me but yours may be totally different.     

Hang this where you can see it daily to remind yourself of what you’d like to see more of in yourself!

Sign up for a FREE downloadable guide for my Watercolor Mind and Body exercise here!

#3 – Your Ideal World 

Grab a bowl from your kitchen and trace a circle on a large sheet of paper.  Set a timer for 20 minutes and fill up your circle using colored pencils, markers, or pastels.  I love art supplies from Blick Art but you can find these supplies at almost any store!

Draw lines, swirls, images, or a rainbow of colors.  You could even go outside of the circle if that feels good to you.  Let yourself be free to create your circle any way you like.  

Now imagine this circle is a new planet that you’ve created.  And ask yourself the following questions:

• What would the people on your planet look like? 
• What do they do for work?  For fun? 
• What do they value? 
• What do they eat?
• What do they wear?
• How do they communicate?   

You can use this activity to go wild with your imagination.  It’s a great exercise in creating your ideal world.  I love your ideal day exercises but this exercise allows your mind to really think outside the box. What type of environment would you design for yourself if you could (which you totally can!)?  Who would you choose to surround yourself with?  What would your home look like if you created your own planet?     

Grab a FREE downloadable guide to the Ideal World exercise right here!

Therapeutic Art Benefits

I hope these therapeutic art activities are enlightening and fun for you to do.  Remember being mindful is about taking note of being present without any judgment. As we create anything we are using our minds and hearts to flow our unique perspectives out into the world.  And the world needs who you are! 

The world needs you to love and accept who you are.  Therapeutic art can help you reveal yourself in ways that are fun and relaxing!    

Let me know in the comments below how the exercises go for you! I would love to know your thoughts!

Work With Me

I provide meditation coaching and therapeutic art experience sessions. I love teaching others about the benefits of being mindful and encouraging creativity. We can learn so much about how to enjoy our lives with creative practices like therapeutic art. If you would like to work one-on-one with me please book a session here!

References:

1. https://www.nytimes.com/guides/well/how-to-meditate#:~:text=Mindfulness%20meditation%20is%20the%20practice%20of%20actually%20being%20present%20in,present%20moment%20without%20any%20judgment.
2. https://www.forbes.com/sites/jeenacho/2016/07/14/10-scientifically-proven-benefits-of-mindfulness-and-meditation/?sh=7a9a9b7b63ce
3. https://www.canr.msu.edu/news/the_benefits_art_therapy_can_have_on_mental_and_physical_health
4. https://humanorigins.si.edu/evidence/behavior/art-music#:~:text=By%2040%2C000%20years%20ago%2C%20humans,sculpture%2C%20ceramics%2C%20and%20stenciling.

Disclaimer: This post includes affiliate links, and I will earn a commission if you purchase through these links. Please note that I’ve linked to these products purely because I recommend them and they are from companies I trust. There is no additional cost to you.