Why should kids have all the fun? Tearing up lots of strips of newspaper is terrific for getting rid of tension, and making papier-mâché is calming, giving your mind a much-needed break while you use your hands to sculpt and smooth. Make this piñata for a small friend, or take it into work the next day so you can all take turns to whack it with a ruler to burst the balloon and remove the sweets.
Cover a work surface with a few sheets of newspaper. Mix roughly equal quantities of flour and water in a small bucket until you have an opaque, gluey liquid – this is your ‘glue’. Tear up a dozen or so sheets of newspaper into strips about 2.5 cm (1 in) wide.
Blow up the balloon, fill with several handfuls of wrapped sweets, and tie a knot to secure. Sit the balloon in a small bowl so it will stay still while you work. Stir the glue mixture and dip the strips of newspaper in it. Let the excess drip back into the bucket, then stick the strips all over the balloon. Smooth out the strips with your hands. After two or three even layers of newspaper strips have been applied, brush over the shape with a little extra glue and leave the piñata to dry overnight. When dry, slap on a coat of bright glossy paint. Get creative – perhaps a smiley face or the initials of a friend, if it is to be a present.
Do you remember playing ‘hangman’ when you were little? That’s the game where you draw a head at the top of a long strip of paper, then fold it out of sight. The next person draws shoulders and folds them out of sight, the next draws a torso, and so on, till you end up with a nonsensical-looking creature. Get your juices flowing by using the same idea of free association to write a soap opera. This is not only a fun thing to do, it’s also a great way of distracting yourself from people or events that are causing you stress. After all, when life is not going to plan, what could be more comforting than to enter a world where you are in control of your characters – what they do and say, and what happens to them – and where things happen precisely as you would like them to do?
Keep a notebook or open a file on your computer, and kick off with the first idea for setting a scene that comes to mind. Where would these take you, for example? George Georgeson might have been the boss at work, but he wasn’t at home. Only last week, the rest of the Georgeson clan … Just about everyone in the Montville Ladies Auxiliary art class had used the orange scissors this week. How was Detective-Inspector Burrell ever going to identify the killer’s prints on the murder weapon? Laura stretched and yawned and looked out of her window, across to the abandoned lot next door. A movement in the grass caught her eye … Next time you feel dull and worn out and as though you are just too tired to ever come up with a fresh idea again, take 5 minutes to flick open your ‘soapie’ script and let your creativity surf in the most surprising directions.
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1. Daydreaming is one of the best relaxation techniques
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