It’s just a hobby

Abi | Apr 22, 2026Apr 22, 2026

LESSON OVERVIEW

The main objectives of this lesson are to:

• engage in discussing hobbies from a critical perspective;
• practise useful vocabulary for debating pastimes;
• watch a video about productivity-focused hobbies. 

In this lesson, students talk about activities they do in their free time, think of hobbies for different situations and review vocabulary to discuss pastimes (e.g. wind down, grow out of, take up). They share their opinions, read about a framework for optimising free time and watch a video about the productivity culture in leisure. Students also debate strategies for hobby development and talk about different hobby trends.

WARM-UP AND VOCABULARY

This lesson begins with a warm-up. Students talk about three activities they do in their free time, providing some details. They then say whether they consider them their hobbies and explain. Afterwards, students think of examples of pastime activities for different points (e.g. if I were looking to have fun) and explain their choices. Moving on, they match the halves of opinions featuring key phrases for discussing hobbies (e.g. get the hang of, kill time, live and breathe). Then, students choose three statements that resonate with them and share details. Following that, they read about the five-hobby idea and discuss questions about it. 

VIDEO AND DISCUSSION

In this part of the lesson, students watch a video called ‘The grindification of hobbies’. First, they look at the definition for ‘grind’ and guess what the main message of the video is. Then, students watch the video and check their ideas. After that, they choose the option that is true for them in statements discussing hobbies (e.g. Turning a hobby into a side-hustle is/isn’t a good idea) and explain why. Moving on, students examine different pastime activities (e.g. video gaming, cooking, gardening) and choose one or more. They talk about them considering points such as ways to improve and track progress and ways to monetize the hobby, if possible. Students also add details. Finally, they look at different hobby trends (e.g. cottagecore, grandma hobbies, brain rot) and answer questions about their impact.

WORKSHEETS

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