Creativity Breaks

Creativity Breaks 

It is universally true that, when engaged in any activity, fatigue will set in, and a break is a necessity. This goes for both physical and mental activities, exciting and mundane endeavors. Nobody is able to sustain the same activity for an indefinite period of time. We all, sometimes, need a break.

In education, especially with young people, the amount of effort and mental capacity it takes to attend to a certain subject, listen to, understand, and retain information being presented, and/or work on a particular task, can be overwhelming. Of course, all kids have a different level of attentiveness, and, for the most part, as students mature and get older, that attention span will increase. But it is also true that some brains, no matter the age, are just not able to sustain the requisite attention for long stretches of time.

There are a variety of breaks that a person can take when they need to refocus and reorganize their brains, and we have talked about them in a broader sense in our blog post on dysregulation. But here we would like to focus specifically on creativity breaks. In a 2010 American Journal of Public Health review, “The Connection Between Art, Healing, and Public Health”, more than 100 studies were reviewed. These were the overall findings: Art (including music, dance, writing, and visual arts) impacted patients by:

Distracting from thoughts of illness

Improving well-being by decreasing negative emotions and increasing positive ones

Improving medical outcomes

Reducing stress, depression, and anxiety

Improving spontaneity, positive identity, and social networks

According to the article, “Your Brain on Art: The Healing Power of Expressive Arts”, copyright 2025 Rush University Medical Center, Author Barbara Weigand says that recent MRI studies at Stanford, Vanderbilt University, and the Mayo Clinic, show that “exposure to art stimulates both brain hemispheres. This deep activation of brain systems through art reduces stress and creates happiness.” Later in the article, Ms. Weigand goes on to say that, “Creative expression is a powerful tool for well-being. It can reduce blood pressure and stress levels and actually improve brain function.”

You may be wondering, do these findings only apply to patients? Absolutely not. These theories were tested on sick people, but the results are universal. All people benefit from creativity. Simply put, creativity breaks can help organize the disorganized mind. The process of creating can induce a sense of mindfulness. It can help your brain go from a frantic state to a relaxed state where thoughts drift freely and are not focused on one particular thing. This is known as a diffuse state, and that’s the state we are shooting for with creativity breaks.

So how can we integrate this with our students, or even with our children who are not in school yet? First, let’s look at what happens when kids try to attend to tasks for too long. Basically, first the mind becomes fatigued and then, depending on the child, can quickly move into an overwhelmed and overloaded state. Young minds are just forming, and often we, as adults, expect the young to be able to sit still, listen, comprehend, and then move on to performing certain tasks for a much longer time than they are physically or mentally able to. The generally accepted rule of thumb in the academic world for attention span is about 2-5 minutes per year of age. This will vary from child to child, depending on maturity level, neurotype, sometimes sex of the child, and interest in the subject/activity, but for the average child you can expect something like this for attention span:

2-3 years - 4-8 minutes

4-5 years - 8-15 minutes

6-8 years - 12-24 minutes

9-10 years - 20-30 minutes

11-12 years - 25-35 minutes

13-15 years - 30-40 minutes

We all know that when we are trying to teach something, or get our kids or students to do something, we need more time than their personal attention span allows for. This is where the creativity breaks come in. They don’t have to be long. They don’t have to be elaborately planned. They don’t need to have tons of supplies. Here is our idea: break up tasks with short, self-led, creativity breaks. Meaning you start your activity, take an art break, restart your activity, etc. Depending on what you are wanting to accomplish, your child may need more than one break, and that’s ok. To increase productivity, attention, comprehension, and retention of ideas, kids need a break and art is one avenue to pursue. The breaks don’t need to be long. Set a timer for 2 minutes, 5 minutes, 10 minutes, or whatever seems appropriate for your particular situation. When the timer goes off, jump back into the activity or lesson. With younger kids, that transition back into work might meet with some opposition at first, but with concerted effort and sticking to your plan, this will improve and even the youngest will be able to willingly move back into focus mode. Once you have this technique up and running, you will be amazed by the shift you see with your kids.

Here are some ideas that you can implement right away:

Free art time (just paper or a dedicated notebook, pen/pencil/markers/crayons)

Coloring pages/coloring books

Scribble drawing (have them turn a random scribble into a recognizable image)

Origami

Paper airplanes

Kinetic sand/playdoh time

Zentangle art/mandala art

Craft box art (just provide construction paper and a random assortment of stickers, pipe cleaners, pompoms, googly eyes, ribbon, feathers, shapes, letters, numbers, scissors, and some glue. (If you are really brave, you can include glitter!)

Rubber stamp art

Wild assortment of Legos (not the kind where they follow directions to build a particular piece, just free-range building)

Of course, the list could go on and on. The point is, help the kids to get their minds off the task at hand, let their minds roam around a little in the world of creativity, so they can get back to work. They will feel rewarded, calmer, more focused, and generally happier. Students don’t need to be gifted artists to do this. Maybe they want to make lists. Maybe they want to doodle. The goal is to let them decide. Give them some decision making power over these break times. They will feel heard and respected and will come back to the learning table with a much more open frame of mind. Because don’t we all want happier, focused students?

Thank you for reading!

Jill B, M.A., M.Ed., CCC-SLP