Hobbies are an excellent topic for your students to write about and these expository writing prompts on hobbies are designed to help. They’re personal, they’re diverse and they give children a chance to share what they do outside of school with their friends. Use the following writing prompts to get your kids talking about all kinds of hobbies.
For 1st and 2nd graders:
→ Writing Prompt 1: Describe something you collect or would like to collect.
→ Writing Prompt 2: Think about your favorite after school activity. Write about it and explain why you love it so much.
For the older grades:
→ Writing Prompt 3: You have just received a letter from a friend inviting you to go along on a family hiking trip in the Cascade Mountains. You’ve decided to accept the invitation. Before you start writing a letter telling him so, think about what questions you’ll need answered. For example, what activities might take place on the trip? Do you need to bring any special equipment? Once you’ve decided what you need to know, write a letter to your friend accepting his invitation.
→ Writing Prompt 4: Some things that are considered a hobby today (such as candle making or blacksmithing) were once a part of people’s daily lives. Think of something that many people do today in their everyday lives that might not exist, except as a hobby, a hundred years from now.
→ Writing Prompt 5: Write a letter to the editors of Hobby Weekly magazine. Tell them what your favorite hobby is and try to persuade them to write a feature article on it.
→ Writing Prompt 6: Write an essay about your favorite hobby to be placed in a time capsule that will be buried this year and opened in 2500. Be sure to explain in detail about any item that you think may not be used anymore in the future.
→ Writing Prompt 7: The arts (music, art, drama, dance, etc.) are often considered hobbies, because people will devote an enormous amount of time to them even if they don’t get paid to do so. Do any of the arts have that effect on you? If so, write about the art and explain it’s influence on your life.
→ Writing Prompt 8: Most hobbies and activities have special words to describe the equipment and movements unique to that activity. For example, chess players talk of rooks and pawns and figure skaters speak of skates and zamboni machines. Imagine you are helping to write a manual for beginners in a hobby or activity you know well. Write an explanation of an important term that all beginners need to understand.
→ Writing Prompt 9: Your parents have told you that you must start a new hobby over the summer vacation. They’ve given you a choice between these three hobbies: falconry, knapping or hooping. Research these three hobbies and write an essay on which one you would pick and why.
→ Writing Prompt 10: Your Aunt Myrtle just told you she’s a lapidarist and that her hobby is lapidary. Write one paragraph on what you think her hobby is. Then research it and write a second paragraph on what lapidary really is. Were you close? Does it seem like a hobby you would enjoy?
→ Writing Prompt 11: There are indoor hobbies, outdoor hobbies, hobbies where something is collected, hobbies where things are observed, and hobbies where games are played. There are also hobbies for creative types (writers and artists, for example), for computer and technology lovers and for those who are interested in health related things, such as yoga or martial arts. Pick a different hobby for five of your family members and write a paragraph for each of them explaining why you have chosen that particular hobby for that particular family member.
