FIND A PHOTO OF A PERSON:• After locating a photo of someone you don’t know, name them• Write their story

WHERE I’M FROM: • Write poem about where you come from• Include details about your personal history/your past

WRITE A LETTER TO YOURSELF:• Write to yourself looking back from 10 years in the future• What would you want to tell yourself?

brain breaks!

CIRCLES OF MIND:• Fill your page with circles of any size• Add color to the page (watercolor, colored pencil, marker)• Write down whatever is on your mind. Don’t think about spelling, punctuation, grammar, or

structure - just write. The goal is to keep your writing tool moving the entire time. It could be even the same word over and over! Try to get all your thoughts on the paper.

Brain Breaks are a way to refocus, unload feelings, engage different parts of the brain, or shift energy. Needed: A notebook or sketchbook, a writing tool, and a few materials (depending on the activity you choose). Spend 5-10 minutes arranging materials on paper, and then another 5-10 minutes either responding to the prompt listed or writing down whatever comes to mind.

LAYERS: • Stamp to make background• Cover with watercolor• Write a journal entry on top of the previous layers

Actual Brain Break example

TEXTURE: • Cut pages/images of texture out of magazines• Cover the entire page• While playing music, close your eyes and use a Sharpie to mark on the page according to how

the music makes you feel• On the same page, use the same Sharpie (or use a different color) to write the first 3 words that

pop into your mind

SCRATCH INTO PAINT: • Paint thickly on page, scratch images or words into the paint• Variation: Paint one thin layer of paint and let it dry, then add a thick layer of

paint in another color, and scratch into the thick layer

MORE LAYERS: • Cut letters from a magazine to spell out 1 word• Color shapes with oil pastels• Turn the page upside-down to write your journal entry• Add a border to tie everything together

17 THINGS I’M NOT ALLOWED TO DO ANY MORE: • Make your list of 17 things you’re not allowed to do • Arrange the items creatively as you write them

ALTER IMAGE: • Find an interesting photo or magazine pic• Tape it down to cover entire page• Cover portions of the image with gesso or acrylic paint• Journal on the gesso or painted portion

WORD EMPHASIS: • Cut a portion of scrapbook paper to cover page. • Choose 1 word, write on page• Using a ballpoint pen or Sharpie, journal around the word• Paint a pattern over the whole page with watercolor• Add some sort of border

NOTES TO SELF: • Write notes to self on the page• Incorporate various random objects in creative ways (paper clips, washi tape, snack

wrappers, sticky notes, stickers, etc.)

RANDOM PICTURE: • Choose 1 picture from a magazine, book, newspaper, or personal photo• Arrange it on the page in such a way that it looks as if it is coming off the page• Add oil pastel• Add paint• Incorporate masking tape• Write a RANDOM word• Draw a random tiny picture somewhere

VARIED PICTURES: • Lay various objects on the table• Loosely sketch the entire scene• Choose one small section to focus on

• Draw lightly, making a loose sketch• Next, draw over with darker strokes this time• Add color

• Draw tiny pictures of scenes on other tables• Incorporate tape• Write something that frustrates you

MIND MAP: • Write down various things that are on your mind, in medium to large size • Connect the words in some fashion• In another color and/or medium, journal over, around, and in between the existing words

COVERING FEAR: • Write something that you fear or that irritates you• Cover it with paint, colored pencil, crayon, or words• Write how that thing makes you feel (use various words and phrases to describe the feelings)• Connect the words with lines, shapes, drawings, etc.