Or staring blankly out the window while traveling? Maybe you doodle in the margins of your notebook to pass the time, occupy your mind, and keep you awake. Or perhaps you keep a journal or notebook of your doodles to look back on for inspiration. Whatever your reason for wanting doodles to draw when bored, our list surely has something for you.
Why Doodle When You’re Bored?
Whether you’re in class, in a meeting, or traveling, doodling is a simple and convenient way to beat boredom. It passes the time, occupies your mind, and allows you to concentrate on meaningful and creative things. But the benefits of doodling don’t stop there. When done in moderate amounts of time, doodling is also good for:
Better recallImproved focus Stress reliefPromoting creativityGiving your brain a break
27 Easy Doodles to Draw When Bored
You don’t have to have top-notch artistic capabilities to reap the benefits of doodling, either. It doesn’t matter so much how your doodles turn out as it does that you do it. Besides, the more often you do it, the better you’ll get. Check out and enjoy these things to doodle when bored.
1. Showers bring flowers
This creative take on flowers in the rain is cute and easy to draw. The irony of the upside-down umbrella catching the rain is especially fun to look at.
2. Bright ideas
Double your doodling fun with drawings inside of drawings. Use them to pass the time or stay awake during your next class or work meeting or to simply entertain yourself.
3. Stick figures
Are you artistically challenged? Keep it super simple with some spruced-up stick figures. These easy doodles to draw take the basic stick figure to new heights for added pizzazz.
4. Play with words
Words aren’t only meant to be spoken or written– they can be used as doodle art as well. Spruce up your notes by using different lettering and adding banners, swirls, and other designs.
5. Mandala
Sure, mandalas are pretty and look cool. But did you know that doodling a mandala can also provide meditative aspects and reduce your heart rate, improve concentration skills, and alleviate stress?
6. Cows
Cows have been necessary to humans since the end of the Stone Age– you know, around the same time your marketing meeting started. Doodle this common farm animal to get you through it.
7. Faces
Face doodles can be as simple as a circle with some dots and a curved line inside. Or you can master more intricate versions with details like lips, eyebrows, ears, and hair.
8. Cactuses
The possibilities are endless with these thick, prickly plants. Doodle a whole desert of these ornamental succulent perennials without having to worry about sticking your fingers with their barbed bristles.
9. Tulips
Next time you want fun doodles to draw when you’re bored, try designing a garden of tulips on your page. Color them in to make it even prettier.
10. Roses
Roses don’t just look beautiful and smell amazing. They’re also known to be one of the most ancient flowers in the world. Color it red to symbolize romance, yellow for friendship, pink for admiration or gratitude, or white for innocence.
11. Watering can
Once you’ve doodled a garden full of tulips, roses, and cactuses, you’ll need a way to water them. Try your hand at this simple, rustic watering that can accompany your pretty flowers.
12. Eyes
Happy eyes, angry eyes, angled eyes, rectangular eyes, winky eyes, smoky eyes – so many possibilities with eyes. Mix and match and play around with all the various types– faces not required!
13. 3D Hole
A little more complicated than some others on our list, this 3D hole optical illusion plays with height, width, and depth to create a really cool design. Follow the link for detailed instructions– it’s totally worth it.
14. Tangled cat
How cute is this kitty all tangled in what appears to be a mini blind? Use lined paper or draw your own lines to create this fun feline-themed doodle.
15. Snail
There’s nothing like a doodle of one of the slowest moving creatures in the world to symbolize the perceived stopping of time during a torturously long meeting, lecture, or conference call. 71 Fun Things To Do At Home To Banish Boredom 61 Of The Best Journaling Ideas To De-Stress And Feel Happy 21 Extraordinary Things To Be Passionate About
16. Robot
Doodle this cute cartoon robot using basic shapes. Simple squares, rectangles, and circles come together to create a cool, realistic machine. It looks more complicated than it is, and the site provides a tutorial to make it easier.
17. Get musical
You might not be able to play the guitar in the middle of a long conference call, but you can create some silent music with these guitar doodles. Rock on!
18. Swirly waves
A few curly lines swirled into a pattern can make a really neat image. Play around with the colors or color it in. This one has no endpoint, really, so you can go on for hours!
19. Social media icons
You probably spend a good amount of your time on various social media networks anyway. Why not doodle the logos of some of your favorite outlets? They’re easy and don’t require much thought.
20. Travel items
You may not have the time or money to take an actual trip, but you can still take your mind on vacation with doodles of travel-related items like airplanes, luggage, and a passport.
21. Honey, I’m bored!
If you’re looking for small doodles to draw, try creating a whole hive of honey bees. They never sleep, so if all else fails, maybe they can take notes for you?
22. Stairway to love
This abstract image of a stairway leading into the heart of heaven is cute, easy, and really cool to doodle. It’s simple enough to draw repeatedly, too. You can also create a mirror image with the staircase going in the opposite direction.
23. Skywriting paper plane
Typically, paper is used to make the airplane. Mix it up by drawing the plane. Get even more creative by making different words and images with the plane’s smoke.
24. Out of this world
Your mind is already elsewhere, right? You may as well take it further out of this world with alien heads. Doodle them in different sizes to create a whole alien family.
25. Cupcakes
Save yourself some calories by opting to doodle this delicious treat rather than eat it. Cupcakes are easy to draw, and the possibilities are endless– play around with icing and toppings to create your own version of this popular dessert.
26. Spiders
Not only are doodles of spiders easy to draw, but you won’t have to trap this kind under a mug to keep it from crawling all over you. Create a whole web of them!
27. Doodle dangles
Doodles that dangle are easy, cute, and super versatile. Hang them from the top of the page in a vine-like fashion, or create a border along the edges. Either way, these designs keep your mind occupied. Whether you prefer animals, people, objects, flowers, or anything else your mind can imagine, doodling can help you beat boredom and get you through mundane times. Next time you’re looking for things to doodle in class or a meeting to pass the time, occupy your mind, or get your creative juices flowing, use our suggestions or put your own spin on them to get you started.
