Fun Exercise to Improve Creative Thinking

Fun Exercise to Improve Creative Thinking

Some of you might think that creativity is something inherited, and if you’re not creative, you’ll never be; that’s not true at all. Dr. Robert Epstein, a psychologist, states that there’s no evidence that one person can inherently be more creative than another, but rather it’s a skill that can be cultivated. He adds that a significant factor that kills creativity is stress, which a lot of people struggle with daily. 

The New York Times reported that Americans are some of the most stressed people in the world, and this affects our overall creativity. Our inventive thinking and ability decline as we get older and take on more responsibilities. That’s why a child can easily find animals in the form of clouds in the sky or imagine an alternative world while playing; they’re a lot less stressed than a college student or someone working multiple jobs to get by. 

Don”t worry though, there are exercises you can start doing to improve your creative thinking, and we’re here to show you how! 

Playing Games Some might think that playing video games or board games should be left for children and teenagers; however, there’s a lot of evidence that it can improve how we think creatively. The founder of D20 Collective stated that games “develop life skills such as math, critical thinking, social development, and camaraderie.” 

While playing games, to be successful, you need to have a strategy and think outside the box. To move up in levels or to win, you must do things that no one else is doing. Also, in games that require players to imagine characters, settings, and obstacles, this involves a lot of creativity. 

There are also games available specifically for thinking like Sudoku, crossword puzzles, Rubik’s Cube, and brain training apps. However, all games improve your thinking in some way or another. 
Making ArtCreating art is one of the best exercises you can do to improve thinking. Art, in a way, is creative problem-solving. You can combine the correct colors to make it realistic, and you have to move the brush a certain way to get the right effect. 

Also, creating art from bits and pieces around your home that aren’t traditional tools, like paint, paper, and pencils, can really boost creativity. You can’t look at a cardboard box and think, what should I ship in it? You have to think about the castle or dinosaur you can turn it into! It’s a fun way to relax your brain and activate your inner child. 

As many have witnessed, stress is the leading killer of creativity, and art has been proven to lower stress in adults. In 2016, a paper published in the Journal of the American Art Therapy Association by a group of researchers found that 45 minutes of doing art lowers a person’s cortisol levels, which is produced in our bodies as a response to stress. 

Writing Prompts Writing, in general, is excellent for your mind, but having unique things to write about boosts creativity. There are a lot of writing prompts online that have constrictions or are about something random that helps build a story. 

Some of the best examples are using a picture and writing a story without using a typical letter, like “e,” “a,” “s” or “t,” or by using a prompt online. You can then post or publish your stories so that others can read your work. You can also read other’s interpretations to get a new perspective. 

The Bottom Line

In a world that’s full of stress, our minds can become clouded. These are some exercises we can all start to do to improve our creative thinking. These activities will make us innovative workers, better problem solvers, and keep our brains active. 

Ashley Lipman
Content marketing specialist
Ashley Lipman is an award-winning writer who discovered her passion for providing knowledge to readers worldwide on topics closest to her heart - all things digital. Since her first high school award in Creative Writing, she continues to deliver awesome content through various niches touching the digital sphere.