Help your kids appreciate poetry, a unique and vibrant part of literature, with these fun ways to celebrate World Poetry Day on March 21st or throughout your homeschool year.
What a great idea to never forget and to support the poets and poetry around the world! Whether you are introducing your students to poetry or have grown accustomed to celebrating poetry during this time, finding fun ways to teach our kids can make a world of difference.
Sometimes poetry is hard to understand for our children. Sometimes, they have different interpretations of a poem’s meaning. And sometimes, our learners understand poetry all too well.
Poetry does a great manner of things for our children. It can help our students relate to emotions, events, circumstances, or other perspectives, and it can fuel the imagination.
Even if our students struggle to relate to poetry, it is still a great subject to teach and expose our children to. Poetry taps into the mind like no other type of literature.
When text is written, oftentimes takes us on a journey.
In this type of literature, poetry IS the journey with, oftentimes, many different possible answers to its meaning.
That is one of the things I like most about poetry. One person’s confusion about it can be another person’s clarity. How can we have something so important at our fingertips and not share it with our kids?
I know if you don’t love poetry – I am cheating because I am an English major and LOVE it – you may not be so eager to teach it in your homeschool. History isn’t my very best to teach either, I get it.
To help, here are some fun ways to celebrate World Poetry Day and observe it, whether your family loves poetry or not:
-Send your kids on a scavenger hunt for favorite poems in Poets.org Poems for Kids.
You select a few everyday things or objects and ask your kids to search for poems relating to that everyday object.
-Have kids select from a list of poems and mail them to people in their families.
People love getting mail, and love getting meaningful letters even more so.
-Hold a poetry night (Poetry Slam) with your kids and homeschoolers in your community.
-Task your children to read a poem and illustrate it with a drawing to hang up in your home next to the written poem.
-Explore poetry games and activities.
10 Fun Poetry Activities | ELT-CATION
3 Poetry Game FREEBIES | Classroom Game Nook
FREE Poetry Pack (Poem In Your Pocket Day) | Erin Waters
30 Poetry Games and Activities for Kids | We are Teachers
7 Poetry Activities Students Love | Teach Writing
Interactive Poetry Activities Your Students Will Love | Read it Write it Learn it
Having Fun with Poetry! | The Secondary English Coffee Shop
-Use technology to make poetry.
Apps For Creating Poetry On The Ipad | Erintegration
-Have your kids select a poem and use sidewalk chalk to write it outside.
Write a short note next to the poem for others to use chalk and do the same. See what poems they come up with and write with the chalk.
-Have your kids select one of their previous essays on any topic.
Turn the essay into a creative short poem. The more boring the essay, the more fun the poem might be.
-Use another subject or theme that your kids are studying and challenge them to write a poem about it.
Are you kids studying natural disasters in science like volcanoes or earthquakes? Are they studying fractions in math? Just think of the possibilities.
-Have your kids recite a poem with a funny voice or with a specific cartoon character voice and see if they can go straight through the whole poem without laughing.
-Grab newspapers and magazines to create random poetry fun. Your kids can cut out sentences and images to create a poem from different texts. Have them paste the letters, words, and images on a page to create their very own artsy poem.
-Read some funny poems with your kids, and get some chuckles out in the day.
100 Best Funny Poems and Limericks | BestPoems.net
Check out some more ideas to help you celebrate World Poetry Day or in April – Poetry Month:
4 Ways Kids Can Celebrate National Poetry Month | WriteShop
12 Ways to Celebrate Poetry Month | Upper Elementary Snapshots
7 Ways To Celebrate Poetry In The Classroom | Create Teach Share
6 Ways To Celebrate The National Poetry Month | True Aim Education
30 Ways to Celebrate National Poetry Month in the Virtual Classroom | Poets.org
Resources to help you teach poetry in your homeschool:
6 Ways to Use Poetry with Kids | This Reading Mama
How To Teach Poetry (Even If You Hate It) | Notes from the Portable
Poetry Analysis For Middle School Students | Mrs. Beers
How to Create a Homeschool Poetry Study | Homeschool.com
FREE poetry resources, printables, tools, and more to use in your homeschool:
How to Teach Poetry in Your Homeschool FREE Printable
FREE Poetry Terminology Fact Cards Cheat Sheets
Poetry Terminology Copywork Notebook
FREE Poetry Analysis Copywork Henry Van Dyke
Poetry FREE Worksheets and Printables
FREE Resources for Studying Great Poets and Their Works
Spring FREE Poetry Pack for Kids | This Reading Mama
FREE Poetry Printables and Resources | Amy’s Wandering
Shel Silverstein Poetry Study and FREE Printables & Poetry Analysis Pack (INSTANT DOWNLOAD)
FREE Spring Lesson – Spring Poetry Lesson and Craftivity | Brain Waves Instruction
Poetry Elements Cards – FREE | Rockin Resources
Books to share with your little ones you can get straight from the library:
Poetry Books That Celebrate Diversity | The Butterfly Teacher
Fun Poetry Books for Kids | Stories by Storie
Remember that in any culture, generation, or creed, there are poets who have fed the minds of people around the globe with written art. Let’s help our kids celebrate the artform in fun and engaging ways.
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Jeannette is a wife, mother and homeschooling mom. She has been mightily, saved by grace and is grateful for God’s sovereignty throughout her life’s journey. She has a Bachelor in English Education and her MBA. Jeannette is bi-lingual and currently lives in the Tongan Islands of the South Pacific. She posts daily freebies for homeschoolers!
