It's NATIONAL POETRY MONTH! Hooray!! Kids LOVE poetry (and so do I)! Let's celebrate!
Here are some fun ways to celebrate Poetry Month with kids...
Read and celebrate poems, poetry in storybooks and nursery rhymes!
Encourage kids to write their own poems!
Visit this Reading Rockets page which features book lists, videos and activities for Poetry Month!
Find even more great picture books about poetry! (Check out these lists from The Guardian and The Washington Post)!
Find even more poetry pages like this one with ideas to help kids create and play with fun poem ideas!
Have kids draw pictures that go along with fun children's poems!
Celebrate with Seuss!
For kids (and teens) grades 5-12, The Academy of American Poets has a page with poets reading their poems and an invitation to kids to write letters in response! Check it out at the "Dear Poet" page!
This year's National Poetry Month Poster is a fun cartoon from the poem Eating Poetry by Mark Doty! (I tried that once. It doesn't taste as good as it sounds!!)
You can download or order the National Poetry Month poster here!
While so many great picture books are pure poetry, you can also bring poetry to kids through books of children's poetry.
Have fun!
Little Bear is the co-founder and creative director of The Beauty of Picture Books Website & Blog. He has also assisted Linda Eve Diamond with her writing and Jeff Novick with his nutritional videos and lectures. L.B.'s other accomplishments include earning a black belt in karate and riding a famous cat at the Ernest Hemingway Home and Museum. (:3