125+ Easy Drawing Ideas to Doodle When You’re Bored

If you’ve got a pencil, a paper, and a whole lot of time to kill, what’s the natural next step? Doodling, of course! It can be super fun to doodle (even if you’re only doing it because you’re bored), but it can be easy to run out of things to mindlessly draw. That’s where we come in! This is the ultimate list of fun, quick, easy, cute, cool, and unique doodle drawing ideas for any situation you find yourself sketching in. From simple shapes to animals, desserts, and abstract patterns, you’ll find tons of doodle ideas and visual examples to base your doodle on—plus inspo tips from artist Swetha Shenoy.

Quick Doodles to Draw

Artist Swetha Shenoy suggests doodling everyday objects like coffee cups, books, or other objects you find around your home. Here are a few more ideas:

🌷 Flowers: Draw tiny tulips, roses, sunflowers, daisies, etc.
🪐 Planets: Draw out-of-this-world doodles like Saturn, the Moon, and the Sun.
🎈 Balloons: Draw oval balloons, heart-shaped balloons, or even hot air balloons!
🍦 Ice Cream Cones: Draw your favorite sweet treat—soft serve or a few large scoops.
🧊 3D Shapes: Draw a cooler version of a simple shape; pyramids, spheres, cubes, etc.

Section 1 of 7:

Cute & Simple Things to Doodle

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Sketch easy and aesthetic doodles like balloons, hearts, and stars. Shenoy suggests that if you want something simple to doodle, “start with basic shapes like circles or ovals in different sizes.” Then, she says to make your doodles more interesting by “adding some details inside.”^{[1]
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Expert Source

Swetha Shenoy
Artist

Expert Interview} You can also draw hearts or 3D shapes like pyramids and cubes. Or, if you want a more aesthetic, cutesy vibe, draw simple items like puzzle pieces, rainbows, or sparkles. Here are some other ideas:^{[2]
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- 3D Shapes
- Acorns
- Balloons
- Bow
- Circles
- Diamonds
- Emojis
- Envelope
- Ghosties
- Hearts
- Heart-shaped key
- Kite
- Music notes
- Paper airplane
- Puzzle pieces
- Rainbow
- Rubber duck
- Sailboat
- Sock
- Sparkles
- Stars
- Stick people
- Sunset
- Umbrellas
Meet the wikiHow Expert

Swetha Shenoy is a modern calligraphy and watercolor artist. She’s also the founder of The Paisley Corner, a creative hub that provides art workshops and team-building activities.

Section 2 of 7:

Food-Related Things to Doodle

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Cook up some yummy doodles like cherries, cupcakes, and hamburgers. It might seem odd, but food doodles can actually be adorable, cool, and super fun to draw! You can do a whole series of fruits, including apples, bananas, cherries, pears, pineapples, and more. Or, maybe you’re opening your own little patisserie with cakes, cookies, and croissants! Here are some other delicious doodles to try:^{[3]
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- Apple
- Avocado
- Banana
- Cake
- Cherries
- Coffee
- Croissant
- Cupcake
- Donut
- Grapes
- Hamburger
- Ice cream cone
- Kiwi
- Orange
- Peach
- Pear
- Pineapple
- Pizza
- Popsicle
- Pumpkin
- Strawberry
- Watermelon

Section 3 of 7:

Space- & Nature-Related Things to Doodle

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Show your earthy side with flower doodles, planets, ocean waves, and more. Whether you’re down-to-earth or out-of-this-world, nature and outer space have plenty of inspo to draw from when it comes to doodling. From cute little cacti and clouds to sweet seashells and shooting stars, here are some example doodles from the world around us:^{[4]
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- Cactus
- Clouds
- Daisies
- Earth
- Leaves
- Lightning bolt
- Moon
- Mountains
- Mushrooms
- Pine trees
- Rocket
- Roses
- Saturn
- Seashell
- Shooting star
- Sun
- Tulips
- UFO
- Vines
- Waves
EXPERT TIP

Swetha Shenoy
Artist
Swetha Shenoy is a Modern Calligraphy & Watercolor Artist based in New Jersey. She is the founder of The Paisley Corner, a creative hub that provides art workshops & team-building activities for individuals and corporate teams alike. Swetha created The Paisley Corner to spread the joy of creating through her art workshops. She teaches multiple lettering techniques, including hand lettering, brush lettering, and watercolor lettering. Since founding The Paisley Corner 5 years ago, she has taught 2500+ students (adults and kids) at over 200 workshops. Notable corporate clients include Adobe, Shapeways, Rituals, Confetti, MixLife & the New York tri-state area public libraries. Prior to her career as an artist and small business owner, Swetha worked as a Software Engineer at multiple companies. She received a BS in Computer Science from Visvesvaraya Technological University and a MS in Computer Science from University of Illinois, Chicago.

Swetha Shenoy
Artist

Nature is a great place to get inspiration for doodles. On walks, I make notes of patterns I see on leaves, flowers, and other small details. I also get ideas from everyday objects around me, like fabrics, books, or even the fonts on packaging.

Section 4 of 7:

Animal-Related Things to Doodle

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Draw purr-fect animal doodles like turtles, jellyfish, and bears—oh my! Animals are cute, cuddly, and perfect for doodling. You can draw some fanciful insects, like dragonflies, ladybugs, or butterflies. Or, you can draw your favorite pet, whether that be a bunny, dog, kitten, or fish. Here are some more examples:^{[5]
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- Bears
- Bunny
- Butterflies
- Cats
- Dinosaurs
- Dogs
- Dragonflies
- Fish
- Jellyfish
- Ladybug
- Mouse
- Pigs
- Seagulls
- Snail
- Snakes
- Starfish
- Turtle

Section 5 of 7:

School and Technology-Related Things to Doodle

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Stay somewhat on-task with in-class doodles like books, crayons, laptops, and more. If you’re doodling because you’re sitting in school and feeling bored, why not doodle whatever you see around you? This may be your school supplies, your textbooks, or the tech you use to get your schoolwork done. Here are some other ideas to get some A+ doodles going:
- Backpack
- Battery
- Books
- Camera
- Computer mouse
- Crayon
- Highlighter
- Laptop
- Notebook
- Padlock
- Paintbrush
- Paper clips
- Pencil
- Scissors
- Smartphone
- Sticky notes
- Triangle ruler

Section 6 of 7:

Miscellaneous & Random Things to Doodle

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Think outside the box with random doodles like crowns, houses, purses, and cars. “Everyday objects like coffee cups, books, or anything you find around [your] home are great to doodle,” suggests Shenoy. “Or, try lettering words in different styles,” she says.^{[6]
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Expert Source

Swetha Shenoy
Artist

Expert Interview} There are no rules, so feel free to draw something totally random or silly…like a cowboy hat, a flame, a teacup, or any one of these random doodling ideas:
- Baseball hat
- Candle
- Cars
- Cowboy hat
- Crown
- Door
- Eyeglasses
- Fire and flames
- Hot air balloons
- Houses
- Lamps
- Lightbulb
- Purses
- Skateboard
- Skull and crossbones
- Teacups and mugs
- Still stumped on what to doodle? Check out this “What Should I Draw?” idea generator!

Section 7 of 7:

Pattern Doodles

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Go abstract with your favorite pattern—from checkerboards to camouflage. “Create repeating patterns using lines, waves, or circles,” Shenoy says.^{[7]
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Swetha Shenoy
Artist

Expert Interview} You can shape patterns however you want and make them super cool and aesthetic. You could draw a square, circle, or other shape to draw your pattern inside of, or just start it in one corner and let it take over your whole page! Here are some of our favorite patterns to doodle:
- Camo pattern
- Checkerboard
- Chevron
- Cow pattern
- Cross-hatch
- Plaid
- Polka dots
- Squiggles
- Stripes