Activities for Poetry Month and All Year Round
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Scavenger Hunt
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Engage your reading-age children in poetic material by developing a fun
scavenger hunt for them, where all the answers lie in an anthology. You
might present the scavenger hunt along with the anthology as a gift-
thereby ensuring the gift gets open, and the child’s curiousity is
piqued. Be imaginative about clues: they could include things like,
“words that describe sadness;” “a poet who grew up on the Prairies;” “a
poem you don’t understand;” “lines that rhyme with ‘xxxxx’” and so on. |
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Audio Books
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Pick up audio books to read along with favourite Dr. Seuss and other
poetry books for very young children. The professional readers will
make the story come alive and kids will turn back into the book over
and over again to play with its language. |
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Word Bag
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Have every family member write down ten words on ten pieces of paper,
and put all of those words into a word bag. Have a few writing sessions
throughout the month- or anything- by pulling out one word and having
each family member write a poem inspired by that word. You’ll be amazed
by what you each come up with. |
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Memorization
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Help kids get inspired by the sounds and rhythms of poetry by having
recitations of memorized favourites. Prizes can include a new volume of
poetry, or smaller pleasures like hair baubles or toy farm animals. |
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Community Anthology
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Challenge your extra-conscientious and talented young writer to “edit”
an anthology. Have him gather poems by each young community member and
compile them. Make copies for every contributor’s family. |
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Music Appreciation Night
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Have a night of music, teaching your kids how songwriting is related to
poetry. They’ll feel very grown up to being listening to
(parent-edited) adult selections, and listening for the stories and
poetry inside of them. Whether it’s hymns or Raffi or Johnny Cash or
Bruce Springsteen or Simon and Garfunkel, your kids with
enthusiastically find the poetry in popular or sacred music if you
point the way. Older kids can bring their favourite songs to Mom and
Dad for a fair listening, and point out what they find poetic in Hannah
Montana- or Jay Z. |
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Rhyme Contests
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Future rap stars as well as future writers will enjoy rhyming contests.
See who can come up with the most rhyming words each for various words,
or get more complicated by asking for a whole phrase in context. |
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Rewrite the Masters
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Cull first lines from famous poems, and use them as an entry point for
a whole new poem. Read the original after family members read their
creations. |
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Tongue Twisters
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Have some fun practicing tongue twisters together. |
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Limericks
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The limerick is one of the silliest and most fun styles of poetry, and
kids love to write them. Get a limerick collection from the library-
but make sure it’s kid-friendly. Limericks are actually intended to be
bawdy; adults can have fun with these raunchy and hilarious grown up
ones after the kids are in bed. |
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Jump Rope Rhymes
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Invent new rhymes for jumping rope games and try them out, thus
combining some family exercise with creativity. |
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Poetry Notebooks
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All kids can participate in poetry activities, but don’t overload those
who aren’t overly interested. Everyone can play with words and expand
their horizons to try new things, but forcing too much of any subject
on a child with different areas of interest will only backfire. That
said, make sure kids who soak up every word are encouraged to expand
their activities and reading deeper. Don’t neglect to get them a
special notebook just for poetry. Have these kids carry around the
special notebook every April, or all year if they are really devoted.
It can be a simple binder with loose leaf paper, decorated with glitter
or car stickers. Or, it can be a very special notebook with fancy
paper, lovingly selected with hard-earned allowance money. Encourage
these kids to jot down their thoughts, observations, rhymes, ideas,
favourite words, poets they are curious about, and reflections on
poems, as well as their own poetry. Let them know the book is totally
private, but let them know you’d love for them to share it with you if
and when they are ready. Don’t be surprised if this becomes a lifelong
habit for some: it’s the most old-fashioned and truest tool for the
budding poet. |
