Does Your Family Write Poetry Together?Nothing could be simpler than to sit down with your child (especially the younger ones) and create a poem together. All you need is keywords. First, pick an item (pet, toy, food, activity, etc.) that the child loves. Then ask the child what words describe this item. Now you have the makings of your poem.
How to Teach Children to Write Poetry
Let’s take the example of a pet rabbit. Your child says the following: “white, soft, hutch, pet, sweet, big teeth, furry, big ears, eats lettuce” and so on. Now, with repetition of the key item, you can create your poem and even sing it!
Baby rabbit
lovely pet.
Baby rabbit
soft and sweet.
Baby rabbit
furry white.
Baby rabbit
big teeth.
Baby rabbit
sleeps and eats.
Baby rabbit
in a hutch.
Baby rabbit
I love you much.
If you want to get a little more ambitious, go to www.rhymer.com and list all the words that sound like “bunny”. Here are some: funny, furry, buddy, tummy, lucky, happy, honey, money, sunny. Now all you need is repetition and a little creativity with each of these words and add your own.
Bunny, bunny, you’re so funny
and your coat is soft and furry.
Bunny, bunny, you’re my buddy
I talk to you when the day is sunny.
Bunny, bunny, what’s in your tummy
grass, carrots and maybe honey.
Bunny, bunny, you are lucky
sleep all day and don’t need money.
Bunny, bunny you make me happy
so I sing my bunny, bunny song.
Teaching Children to Rhyme
You can mix rhymes with blank verse too. Staying on the pet rabbit theme, here’s a way to go. Pick words that express the child’s emotional experiences with the rabbit, such as: friend, touching, smiling, contact, love, and so on. Just make a story out of the child’s choice of words but split them up into mini phrases of verse.
Bunny rabbit,
I know you are
my special friend.
I love to touch
the softness
of your fur and head.
You let me touch
because we know
each other well.
I smile at you
and you look back
with big brown eyes.
I think
you’re smiling too.
I think
if you could wag
your lovely fluffy tail at me
you would.
And wouldn’t that
be funny, bunny!
And wouldn’t that
be very funny, bunny!
Children love repetition. It’s the musical quality that appeals to them. You can take any topic from teddy bears to pizza. If you have trouble finding words to rhyme with, for example, “pizza” then switch the poem so you have a different ending to your line of poetry. Change “pizza” to “pizza slice” or “pizza for lunch” or “pizza with cheese” or “pizza and milk” or “pizza and me”. If “bears” has too few rhyming words to work with, use “teddy” at the end of the poem’s line or the name the child has given to the toy.
Sing and Dance to Enhance the Poetry Experience
If you don’t want to go down the rhyming road, simply list the words the child has given you that represent his/her feelings and experiences. For example:
Bunny hutch.
Bunny teeth.
Bunny hop.
Bunny food.
Bunny soft.
Bunny white.
Bunny sweet.
Bunny pet.
Bunny ears.
Bunny mine.
Bunny friend.
Bunny birthday present.
Dance around with your little one as you repeat your Bunny Poem. Or mime the actions with big, bold, over-the-top gestures. Whatever you do, it will be fun, intimate, a language learning experience for the child and a rewarding, bonding event for both of you.
