Is it easy to be creative?

Inna | Apr 12, 2026Apr 10, 2026

LESSON OVERVIEW

The main objectives of this ESL lesson on creativity are to:

• discuss creativity from various perspectives;
• practise phrasal verbs related to the creative process;
• watch part of a video about a physicist having a creative block.

In this lesson, students reflect on creativity, share their opinions and explore tips on how to be creative. They work with useful phrasal verbs (e.g. pick up, think it through, run out of), talk about their experiences and discuss how different factors impact creativity. Students watch a video excerpt (from 00:06 to 02:02) about a physicist unable to focus and debate strategies for creative blocks. They also try the technique of freewriting and reflect on their experience, using the target phrasal verbs from the lesson. 

WARM-UP AND PHRASAL VERBS

This ESL lesson on creativity starts with a warm-up. Students examine different objects (e.g. a paper clip, a bottle, a scarf), choose one and, in one minute, think of as many different uses of it as possible. They then discuss the creative process and idea generation. Afterwards, students read the definition of ‘creativity’. Following that, they look at pairs of statements with opposing perspectives on creativity. In each pair, students choose one statement they agree with more and give details. Moving on, they read more tips on being creative. Then, students find a word or phrase with the same meaning as phrasal verbs (e.g. try out, make up, come up with) in the statements. After that, they choose tips from the previous task that they find useful and explain why. Next, students complete sentences with prepositions, choose or modify them to be true for themselves and share details.

VIDEO AND FREEWRITING

In this part of this ESL lesson on creativity, students discuss how different factors (e.g. level of stress, perfectionism, self-discipline) affect creativity. After that, they watch a video about a physicist working from home. First, students examine words (distract, focus, bored) and predict what the problem is. They then watch part of the video and check their ideas. Moving on, students complete sentences with one word. Next, they watch the video again and check. Afterwards, students discuss questions about experiences and strategies regarding focus, distractions and creative blocks. Following that, they look at ways to deal with a creative block and discuss methods for managing it. Then, students apply the freewriting technique mentioned in the previous task. They choose one topic and spend two minutes writing anything that comes to mind. Finally, students reflect on their experience, using the phrasal verbs from the lesson.

HOMEWORK/REVISION

This ESL lesson on creativity also includes an additional task that you can use as homework or revision. In the task, students complete the second line of dialogues using the target phrasal verbs from the lesson. The task is available in the teacher’s version of the worksheet. You can print it and hand it out to your students. It’s also included in the e-lesson plan.

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