17 Fun Online Creative Breaks

For those of you wanting a little creative break today, here’s a roundup of amusing and inspiring sites I’ve mentioned before. Some people call these time-wasters, but since they all stimulate creativity, I consider them time very well spent!

Sketch Swap: Draw something with your cursor and submit it, then receive a picture someone else created.

This is Sand: Click on the tiny gray box at the top left of the screen for instructions. You can use your cursor to drop digital sand of different colors and create beautiful virtual designs.

Magnetic Poetry: An electronic version of the refrigerator magnets that turn us all into poets.

Language is a Virus: A variety of inspirational devices including writing prompts, a character name generator, a poetry generator, the text collage, madlib poems, the haiku-a-tron and much more.

Wordle: Turn your words into a cloud.

Mr. Picasso Head: Have fun with this this twist on the childhood “Mr. Potato Head” game.

String Spin: Click and draw with your cursor, watch your sketch rotate in 3D, then hit the button that puts it into full spin to create amazingly intricate patterns.

Character Description Generator: Use this to create quirky people for fun or fiction writing.

Still Life: Create a still life in the style of the Masters with this imaginative interactive website from the National Gallery of Art.  Note: It may take a couple of minutes to download, but it’s well worth the wait.

Collage Machine: Another  fun site from the National Gallery of Art: create a collage online.

Animation Station: Make your own animated cartoon.

Matisse’s Pieces: Pretend you’re Henri Matisse as you position, size and color various shapes to create your own cutout.

Make Your Own Music: Click on the squares to activate different tones, then listen as they produce gorgeous music when they touch each other.

Doodle Pad: Choose your color from the rows of crayons at the bottom, choose the thickness of the line using the slider at the top, and doodle away.

Splash Paint: Make virtual abstract designs with this fun online paint program.

Draw a Stickman: Draw a stickman, then help him out as he gets into trouble. Choose from two fun adventures.

Conduct a Band:  Create and conduct your own  beatbox or a capella band.

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Fun Creative Break: Make a Mobile Online

Here’s a site that lets you create a virtual interactive mobile. You can adjust the mobile’s shapes, colors, size, speed, orbit and balance. Be sure to try switching to Aerial View and turning on trails — this create spirographic patterns as the mobile spins.

Click here and have fun with this!
 

DOWNLOAD YOUR FREE CREATIVE BURSTS WORKBOOK!
And receive free creativity prompts delivered to your inbox twice a week.
CLICK HERE!   (To learn more, click here)

Fun Creative Break: Pony Dance Party!

For some goofy fun, try The Pony Mixer. It lets you trick your pony out in different styles (rock, rave, Bollywood, punk, hip-hop, funk, boy band, love song), then watch as the pony gets down.

It’s absurdist creativity and total silliness to get your muse laughing!

And if you want to watch the pony’s original (non-tricked out) dance, here it is:

 

DOWNLOAD YOUR FREE CREATIVE BURSTS WORKBOOK!
And receive free creativity prompts delivered to your inbox twice a week.
CLICK HERE!   (To learn more, click here)

Fun Creative Break: Play With Virtual Legos

 
For a little playbreak while sitting at your computer, try building something with virtual legos at this site. (For blue legos, hold the space bar.)

Have fun!

 

DOWNLOAD YOUR FREE CREATIVE BURSTS WORKBOOK!
And receive free creativity prompts delivered to your inbox twice a week.
CLICK HERE!   (To learn more, click here)

Create Your Own Word Search Puzzle

Here’s a fun website that lets you create a word search puzzle with the words you choose: EdCreate.

The puzzle I created above contains the following words, if you want to try to find them:

MAGICAL    SKETCH    JOYFUL
IMAGINATION    DANCE    CREATIVITY
FLOW    POETRY    JOURNALING
SING    PAINT    MEMORY
IMAGE    MUSE    CREATE
WORDS    SCULPT

DOWNLOAD YOUR FREE CREATIVE BURSTS WORKBOOK!
And receive free creativity prompts delivered to your inbox twice a week.
CLICK HERE!   (To learn more, click here)

19 Fun Online Creative Breaks

For those of you wanting a little creative break today, here’s a roundup of amusing and inspiring sites I’ve mentioned before. Some people call these time-wasters, but since they all stimulate creativity, I consider them time very well spent!

Sketch Swap: Draw something with your cursor and submit it, then receive a picture someone else created.

This is Sand: Click on the tiny gray box at the top left of the screen for instructions. You can use your cursor to drop digital sand of different colors and create beautiful virtual designs.

Magnetic Poetry: An electronic version of the refrigerator magnets that turn us all into poets.

Language is a Virus: A variety of inspirational devices including writing prompts, a character name generator, a poetry generator, the text collage, madlib poems, the haiku-a-tron and much more.

Passtime: Three “creative time wasters,” including instructions on writing a haiku using the phone book.

Wordle: Turn your words into a cloud.

Mr. Picasso Head: Have fun with this this twist on the childhood “Mr. Potato Head” game.

Right Brain vs. Left Brain Creativity Test: Take this test to learn which side of your brain is dominant.

String Spin: Click and draw with your cursor, watch your sketch rotate in 3D, then hit the button that puts it into full spin to create amazingly intricate patterns.

Character Description Generator: Use this to create quirky people for fun or fiction writing.

Still Life: Create a still life in the style of the Masters with this imaginative interactive website from the National Gallery of Art.  Note: It may take a couple of minutes to download, but it’s well worth the wait.

Collage Machine: Another  fun site from the National Gallery of Art: create a collage online.

Animation Station: Make your own animated cartoon.

Matisse’s Pieces: Pretend you’re Henri Matisse as you position, size and color various shapes to create your own cutout.

Make Your Own Music: Click on the squares to activate different tones, then listen as they produce gorgeous music when they touch each other.

Doodle Pad: Choose your color from the rows of crayons at the bottom, choose the thickness of the line using the slider at the top, and doodle away.

Splash Paint: Make virtual abstract designs with this fun online paint program.

Draw a Stickman: Draw a stickman, then help him out as he gets into trouble. Choose from two fun adventures.

Conduct a Band:  Create and conduct your own  beatbox or a capella band.

DOWNLOAD YOUR FREE CREATIVE BURSTS WORKBOOK!
And receive free creativity prompts delivered to your inbox twice a week.
CLICK HERE!   (To learn more, click here)

Creative Break: Conduct a Band!

Here’s a fun way to spend a quick break: Incredibox is a site that lets you create and conduct your own  beatbox or a capella band. I had a great time playing around with all the variations! Click here to enjoy.

DOWNLOAD YOUR FREE CREATIVE BURSTS WORKBOOK!
And receive free creativity prompts delivered to your inbox twice a week.
CLICK HERE!   (To learn more, click here)

Creative Break: Amusing Stickman Adventures Continue

I previously wrote about Draw a Stickman, a fun site where the stickman you draw becomes animated and falls into a little adventure.

I just discovered the site has added a second episode with a brand new adventure for your brave little stickperson. Check it out here. It’s a great creative break!

DOWNLOAD YOUR FREE CREATIVE BURSTS WORKBOOK!
And receive free creativity prompts delivered to your inbox twice a week.
CLICK HERE!   (To learn more, click here)

18 Fun Online Creative Breaks

For those of you wanting a little creative break today, here’s a roundup of amusing and inspiring sites I’ve mentioned before. Some people call these time-wasters, but since they all stimulate creativity, I consider them time very well spent!

Sketch Swap: Draw something with your cursor and submit it, then receive a picture someone else created.

This is Sand: Click on the tiny gray box at the top left of the screen for instructions. You can use your cursor to drop digital sand of different colors and create beautiful virtual designs.

Magnetic Poetry: An electronic version of the refrigerator magnets that turn us all into poets.

Language is a Virus: A variety of inspirational devices including writing prompts, a character name generator, a poetry generator, the text collage, madlib poems, the haiku-a-tron and much more.

Passtime: Three “creative time wasters,” including instructions on writing a haiku using the phone book.

Wordle: Turn your words into a cloud.

Mr. Picasso Head: Have fun with this this twist on the childhood “Mr. Potato Head” game.

Right Brain vs. Left Brain Creativity Test: Take this test to learn which side of your brain is dominant.

String Spin: Click and draw with your cursor, watch your sketch rotate in 3D, then hit the button that puts it into full spin to create amazingly intricate patterns.

Character Description Generator: Use this to create quirky people for fun or fiction writing.

Still Life: Create a still life in the style of the Masters with this imaginative interactive website from the National Gallery of Art.  Note: It may take a couple of minutes to download, but it’s well worth the wait.

Collage Machine: Another  fun site from the National Gallery of Art: create a collage online.

Animation Station: Make your own animated cartoon.

Matisse’s Pieces: Pretend you’re Henri Matisse as you position, size and color various shapes to create your own cutout.

Make Your Own Music: Click to create circles, then listen as they produce gorgeous tones when they touch each other.

Doodle Pad: Choose your color from the rows of crayons at the bottom, choose the thickness of the line using the slider at the top, and doodle away.

Splash Paint: Make virtual abstract designs with this fun online paint program.

Draw a Stickman: Draw a stickman, then help him out as he gets into trouble.

DOWNLOAD YOUR FREE CREATIVE BURSTS WORKBOOK!
And receive free creativity prompts delivered to your inbox twice a week.
CLICK HERE!   (To learn more, click here)

Creative Break: Amusing Stickman Adventures

I just discovered Draw a Stickman, a fun site where you — what else? — draw a stickman. Then watch as he becomes animated and falls into an adventure — with a little help from you. This is SO fun! Check it out.

DOWNLOAD YOUR FREE CREATIVE BURSTS WORKBOOK!
And receive free creativity prompts delivered to your inbox twice a week.
CLICK HERE!   (To learn more, click here)

Take a Splash Paint Break!

For a fun little creative break, check out Splash Paint. You can read all the instructions for various tools, but I just started messing around with it and had a great time splashing some virtual paint into abstract designs!

DOWNLOAD YOUR FREE CREATIVE BURSTS WORKBOOK!
And receive free creativity prompts delivered to your inbox twice a week.
To learn more, click here!

Take a Doodle Break!

For a quick creative break while you’re sitting at your computer, check out this Doodle Pad. Choose your color from the rows of crayons at the bottom, choose the thickness of the line using the slider at the top, and doodle away!

Take a Walk Through Tim Burton’s Mind

For a fun virtual museum visit, check out director Tim Burton’s Gallery. Use your mouse or arrow keys to walk Stainboy through the gallery and check out Burton’s artwork. You can click on the paintings if you want a closer look.

Creative Playtime: Make Your Own Album Cover

I had so much fun using random elements to create the “album cover” above! Apparently this has been floating around Facebook for a while, but I just saw it for the first time. Here are the instructions:

1. Go to wikipedia.org and hit Random Article. The title of the article is the name of your band.

2. Go to quotationspage.com and hit Random Quotation. The last four or five words of the last quote on the page is the title of your album.

3. Go to flickr.com and click on Explore -> Interesting photos from the last 7 days. The third picture, no matter what it is, is your album cover.

4. Use Photoshop or a free online photo editor like picnik.com to put it all together.

A couple of caveats:

• This is creative play, so feel free to bend the rules — if you see another photo or quote you like better, use it!

• Many of the photos posted on Flickr are listed as having “All Rights Reserved.” If you plan to post your album cover (even to Facebook), it’s not cool to steal someone else’s creative work! I had fun playing around with artwork I found on Flickr, but for my album cover above, I used a photo I took at the San Francisco zoo a few years ago. Another option: try this Flickr tool, which generates random images licensed under Creative Commons licences that don’t prohibit derivative works.

Enjoy Some Abstract Playtime

I’m on vacation, and while I’m away I’m highlighting some of my favorite fun creative websites and writer’s resources. Hope your holidays are joyful, and I’ll see you in the New Year!

For a fun creative break, try this twist on the childhood “Mr. Potato Head” game: Make your own Mr. Picasso Head. Be sure to check out the gallery and enjoy the creations other picassohead artists have posted.

Get Inspired

I’m on vacation, and while I’m away I’m highlighting some of my favorite fun creative websites and writer’s resources. Hope your holidays are joyful, and I’ll see you in the New Year!

You can find a variety of inspirational devices over at Language is a Virus, including writing prompts, a character name generator, a poetry generator, the text collage, madlib poems, the haiku-a-tron and much more. Let your muse go wild in this writer’s playground!

Write Something Magnetic

I’m on vacation, and while I’m away I’m highlighting some of my favorite fun creative websites and writer’s resources. Hope your holidays are joyful, and I’ll see you in the New Year!

Let your muse come out to play with this magnetic poetry website.  Choose your subject matter: the artist, genius, office, romance or the poet.  When you’re done, you can submit your work for other people to read or browse through your fellow magnetic poets’ creations.

Creative Break—Make a Virtual Sand Design

I’m on vacation, and while I’m away I’m highlighting some of my favorite fun creative websites and writer’s resources. Hope your holidays are joyful, and I’ll see you in the New Year!

Here’s another fun site for a creative break: This is Sand.  Click on the tiny gray box at the top left of the screen for instructions.  You can use your cursor to drop digital sand of different colors and create beautiful virtual designs.

Be forewarned, you might spend more time here than you planned—I know I did!

(More information:  This Is Sand Blog)

Creative Break—Swap a Sketch

I’m on vacation, and while I’m away I’m highlighting some of my favorite fun creative websites and writer’s resources. Hope your holidays are joyful, and I’ll see you in the New Year!

For a fun break, try Sketch Swap: make a quick sketch with your cursor and submit it. A few seconds later, a picture from someone else appears on your screen, drawing itself as the other person created it. For some reason, it fascinates me to watch an unknown stranger’s work appear on my screen.

Creative Break—Make Your Own Music

I love this wonderful website! Click to create circles, then listen as they produce gorgeous tones when they touch each other. Enjoy!

Jumpstart Your Writing With This Fun Story Starter

Here’s an amusing little online gadget to help you come up with story ideas — or just random tidbits to use as writing exercises: The Special Projects Labs Idea Generator. I gave it a few whirls and received:

Secret glitter magazine

Automatic holographic car

Revolutionary chocolate furniture

Cold neon hotel

Luxurious growing art

Erotic mechanized sanctuary

A whole lot of ideas lurk in these odd little phrases. If you come up with any you like or use one to write something, share it in the comments!

Creative Break—Make Like Matisse

Here’s another fun site that allows you to pretend you’re Henri Matisse! Matisse’s Pieces lets you position, size and color various shapes to create your own cutout. If you want to be inspired by the real thing, check out this page (be sure to scroll to the bottom).

Have fun, be playful and enjoy!

Coloring Creativity

I love coloring. As a writer, I tend to have a lot going on in my head. But when I’m coloring, I can be creative without all the words. Coloring gives me a chance to turn off my brain while doing something very focused. And after a little time spent coloring, I’m refreshed and ready to delve back into the stories competing for attention in my mind.

I’d love to hear about your experiences with coloring and creativity!

And if you’d like something to color right now, click here for some free coloring pages you can print out.

Copyright © Sandy Ackers, Strangling My Muse: Struggling to Live a Creative Life in a Stressful World, http://www.stranglingmymuse.com

What’s Your Creative Route?

Quick post today to direct you to an amusing cartoon about the creative process. Click here if you want a chuckle.

I think anyone who’s ever attempted to do something creative will relate to this!

Creative Break—Make Your Own Cartoon

I had so much fun with Animation Station! Draw a background, then a series of sketches. Hit Play and watch your drawing come to life. I just created a simple stick figure walking across the screen, then a face gradually smiling, but you could do much more with this. It reminds me of an electronic version of the flip books many of us enjoyed creating as children.