Poems for Kids: Books, Activities, and Ideas
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Poems for kids range from silly to thought-provoking to classics, mostly depending on age and stage. Use this resource guide to help you find books, activities, and ideas to help your students and children learn to love poetry and write their own poems.
Best Children’s Poetry Books for Kids
Poems for Kids: Books, Activities, and Ideas
Preschool
Why I Read Poetry to My Toddler
by Robin Merrill
Early Elementary
Write a Hidden Message Poem
To encourage my reluctant writer, we turned our poetry into artwork. We made it even more special by hiding our poetry inside the picture using a fun technique, watercolor resist.
Write an Onomatopoeia Poem Using Popcorn
Get your kids jazzed about poetry during Poetry Month. A great way is write about something edible — like popcorn – and work on one or more poetic elements. I like to teach repetition, onomatopoeia, and use of white space with popcorn.
Found Poetry with Recycled Magazines
Reuse your old magazines and create found poetry from the words you find on the pages. Found poetry means you’re first going on a treasure hunt for wonderful words and phrases. Then, you can use those words and phrases to write a poem. In this case, it’s collaging together the words you’ve discovered to make a poem.
New & Favorite Poetry Books for Kids (2012)
The best way to get your kids engaged in poetry is reading lots of poetry from different poets and about different subjects. Read poems to them; let them read poems to you. So, today I’m listing the newest poetry books and the best classic favorite books of poems.
New Poetry Books for Kids (2013)
Poems are one of my favorite ways to hook writers. After all, there are no sentences in sight. No paragraphs, not even capital letters sometimes.
How to Write a List Poem
Kids can easily write a list poem using their powers of observation. First, have them look around and write a list of words down the side of their paper.
Poetry and Songs for Children, DLTK-Kids
Elementary
Daily Poems for National Poetry Month
For National Poetry Month or any time of the year, read poems daily to your kids. It doesn’t have to be poetry specifically written for kids either.
How to Find a Poem Topic
Guest post by Kenn Nesbitt, poet and founder of Poetry for Kids.
Unlock Poetry for Kids Using Art
Introducing poetry to my kids didn’t go exactly like I planned. My kids weren’t loving the poems or even understanding what they were reading. So I needed a way to unlock poetry for my kids — and I found it through art.
Memorize a Poem for National Poetry Month
Since it’s National Poetry Month, memorize a poem — and have our kids memorize one, too. It’s so rich to have those words hanging around our brains.
New & Favorite Poetry Books for Kids
The best way to get your kids engaged in poetry is reading lots of poetry from different poets and about different subjects. Read poems to them; let them read poems to you. So, today I’m listing the newest poetry books and the best classic favorite books of poetry.Â
Writing Riddle Poems
Kids love reading and writing riddle poems. Riddles often give wonderful sensory details and describe something a child knows about. Plus, they encourage critical thinking and engagement in poetry.
New Poetry Books for Kids (2013)
Children’s poetry is one of my favorite ways to hook writers. After all, there are no sentences in sight. No paragraphs, not even capital letters sometimes.
20 Best Poems for Kids, Writer’s Digest
Classic Poems for Kids, Story It
Middle School
High School
Get Lit Spoken Word Poetry for Teens
Get Lit is an LA.-based initiative created by Diane Luby Lane that uses poetry, reading, writing, and spoken word, to inspire teens to reengage with their lives and education. The Get Lit Rising book is profound, sharing the stories of 19 individual teen poets, the classic poem that inspired them, and their response poems.
