5 Activities to Celebrate National Poetry Month in April

Teach your kids a love of wordsmithing during National Poetry Month with these easy, fun activities

Kids can not only enjoy reading poetry aloud to each other, but also creating verses of their own. (Prostock-studio/Shutterstock)

O sweet wild April/ Came down the Lea,/ Dancing along,/ With his sisters three:/ Carnation, and Rose,/ and tall Lily./ Sing hi,/ Sing hey,/ Sing ho!—William Force Stead

April is National Poetry Month—sing hi, sing hey, sing ho! Poetry is such a fun way to spark your children’s interest in words and wordplay. Poems have magical, lyrical rhythms and beautiful, descriptive language that will arouse your kids’ curiosity and captivate their senses.

Sprinkle some of these fun activities into day-to-day family life for a month-long celebration of the joys of poetry.

Read Poems Aloud

Start simple and start with humor. Read a few nursery rhymes aloud to your kids. Even older children will appreciate the good-natured humor, fun rhymes, and melodic flow of the words. Keep the momentum going and choose a few longer poems that will definitely tickle your kids’ funny bones, such as “I Should Have Stayed in Bed Today” by Jack Prelutsky and “My Sloth is Supersonic” by world-renowned poet Kenn Nesbitt.

Visit your local library and borrow some books of poetry, such as “Read-Aloud Rhymes for the Very Young” selected by Prelutsky or “Favorite Poems Old and New” selected by Helen Ferris. You can also visit Nesbitt’s site at Poetry4Kids.com, where you'll find a variety of poems organized by type, subject, and grade level; videos of Nesbitt reading some of his favorite poems; and more.

Throughout the month, choose from a variety of poetic styles, such as haikus, free verse poems, odes (which celebrate a person, place, thing, or idea), verses from Shakespeare, acrostic poems (where the first letter of each line spells out a message), and more.

Create Poetry

Give your kids the freedom to create poetry throughout the day. When we were homeschooling, my two kids enjoyed creating different kinds of poems from the magnetic words on our refrigerator. You can download lists of common words for free from HomeMadeLovely.com or the Magnetic Poetry website, then print the lists onto magnetic sheets using an inkjet printer. (Laser printers generate too much heat for printing safely.) Then, simply cut out the words and stick them on the fridge. For inspiration, try creating a short poem and sticking it in the center of all the word magnets.

For a more positive writing experience, introduce your kids to some of the easier, more child-friendly poetic styles such as free verse, couplets (which have successive lines that rhyme), acrostic poems, haikus, concrete or shape poems (where the poem’s shape on the page adds to its meaning), and cinquains (which have a five-line pattern). Free verse is a great style to start with because there are no rules. Your kids have the freedom to experiment with words and wordplay without needing to follow a specific pattern.

If you need a little inspiration or help, look to Nesbitt’s Poetry4Kids website, which offers free poetry writing lessons for all of the above styles and more.

Illustrate and Dramatize Poems

Encourage your kids to expand their study of poetry by illustrating their favorite poems. My kids had a lot of fun making illustrated couplet poem booklets. If your kids are game, gift the completed booklets to emerging readers. Longer poems could be made into picture books.

Also, your kids will have great fun hamming up as they act out their favorite poems, especially the funnier ones. Nursery rhymes make great choices because they’re familiar and most are short. Or maybe you’re looking for a new idea for family night; for a fun-filled evening, play poetry charades.

Host a Poetry Tea Party

Hosting a poetry tea party is the creation of fellow homeschool mom, curriculum designer, and parenting author Julie Bogart. Inspired by her fondness for a relaxing afternoon tea time and her desire to share her love of Shakespeare with her children, Bogart created Poetry Teatime and wholeheartedly believes that “there are few practices parents can adopt with their children that have as much power to transform the family dynamic with so little effort as this one ritual.”

For inspiration, visit Bogart’s website, PoetryTeatime.com, for tips, oodles of poetry resources to delight your kids’ senses, and some yummy recipes to add a touch of sweetness to your afternoon.

Participate in Poem in Your Pocket Day

Poem in Your Pocket Day is celebrated annually in April; in 2023, this unique holiday occurs on April 27. Poem in Your Pocket Day is an easy and fun way to share a love for poetry and introduce friends and family to its beauty.

The idea is simple: Your child chooses a favorite poem, writes it out on an index card or card stock, and carries it in his or her pocket throughout the day, sharing it whenever possible. Alternatively, they could write out multiple copies of the chosen poem or poems and then gift the poems to family, friends, and neighbors.

The more you share poetry with your children, the more they’ll learn to enjoy it.