Children love to do language experiments from an early age. You can easily encourage this aptitude for language learning by writing poems that suit them. To decide where to go about genre and topic, consider several aspects, including your personal tastes and the needs of your young audience. The best way to become a good poet is to practice writing a lot, but to make it easier for you, you can also follow some specific steps that will help you succeed.
Steps
Method 1 of 3: Writing Poems for Children
Step 1. Consider your viewers
Children are very attracted to short and rhyming poems. For example, nursery rhymes, funny and silly poems, are very popular with children. There is no need to write rhyming poems, although doing so would develop valuable pre-reading skills for your young learners.
- Poems that focus on everyday and ordinary experiences can be a great way to teach children to look at those same things from different points of view. In addition, dealing with familiar themes allows children to concentrate without distraction on certain details, such as sounds and the syntax of words.
- Bruno Tognolini writes beautiful nursery rhymes for children. His book Mammalingua is one of the best known books by children, thanks to the use of rhymes, catchy as songs, like his other compositions, with creative descriptions of the world and its elements: "And I say change the time / Snow Sun Rain Wind / Today Rain / Rain raining on the hand / The left hand / It beats drops slowly / At the window / PLIC PLOC, drop drop / In the streets it takes a shower / Everything washes, everything was rinsing / Too much water ". Note: The slashes "/" indicate when the text wraps.
Step 2. Read many kinds of children's poetry
Various poetry collections and reading suggestions are easily found on the net, and you will certainly find appropriate books in your city library. This will give you an idea of what best fits the average age of the audience you are preparing to write for. Reading poems aloud, however, is particularly enlightening to understand how language works within children's compositions, since they are often conceived to be read aloud.
- Short narrative poems that tell simple stories are ideal for children, who have a very limited attention span over time. Ballads throughout the year and other songs, as well as other books by Giuseppe Pontremoli and Jolanda Colombini Monti, are excellent examples to inspire you to compose a short and funny rhyming story.
- Limericks are short poems characterized by a particular rhyming scheme and composed of 5 lines, of which the first two and the last have the same rhyme, the third and fourth a different one: AABBA. For example: "A man from Turin / ate a nice sandwich; / he appreciated the bread very much / and threw away the salami / that strange man from Turin". Children love limericks, which thanks to their intense rhythm and remarkable use of rhyming sounds, are great fun to read or recite aloud.
- Finally, do not miss the books by Gianni Rodari, which have now become classics of writing for children.
Step 3. Take inspiration
There are several useful activities to write down some ideas for your poem. Always keep in mind the type of audience you are targeting; for example, for very young children it may not be pleasant to hear scary poems related to unfamiliar things or experiences.
- Find a particular word that has a funny sound. Any one, perhaps a choice among those silly ones that children like so much. Then look for a handful of words that rhyme with this word. For example, you could try "pappa" or "girotondo" (if you can't figure it out, check out one of the many rhymes online).
- Choose a word with a specific vowel. Then write down any words that sound similar, even if they don't rhyme. For example, you can combine words like "cat", "sack", "map", "cap" and "mom". Sharing this vowel is called "assonance", and making young readers understand it will help them improve their speech skills.
- Choose a word whose stem has a specific consonant sound. Then, put together a few words that possess the same characteristic. They could also be rhyming, but that's not a requirement. For example, think of something like "star", "uncork", "stable" and "out of tune". The repetition of the same sound is called "alliteration" and is another very useful element for the literacy of young learners.
- Choose a familiar object and describe it. Go into detail in the most concrete and specific way possible, bringing all senses into play. Imagine that you are facing someone who is completely unaware of the thing you are trying to represent. How will you set up your exposure? It is certainly an excellent method for encouraging young readers to see familiar objects in a different light.
- Choose an adjective and write it down. Then work hard to find all the synonyms you can. Online vocabularies and dictionaries are a great help in this regard. Wouldn't it be strange if you discovered some new words too! One of the most relevant aspects of poetry for children is the considerable lexical enrichment that follows.
- Think about a relationship that is important to you. It can be related to anyone: grandparents, siblings, children, a spouse, a teacher, a neighbor. Think about your feelings for this person and describe your relationship best. Poetry is a very useful tool for introducing children to social relationships and empathy.
- Consider your childhood experience. Represent a common one, such as outdoor play or a new friendship. You could also opt for an intimidating circumstance for your little readers, such as the first day of school or a visit to the doctor. Try to remember your approach to that event. Write down any feelings and thoughts that come to your mind about it. Finally, you can try to have the children tell you the most recurring experiences in their thoughts.
Step 4. Compose the poem
This is certainly the hardest part! The key thing is to write frequently and regularly. Don't worry about achieving perfection on the first try. On the contrary, try to lay the foundations of the poem. You can (and will have to) improve it with subsequent revisions.
- If you run out of inspiration, get a little scheme to help you get out of the block. Children's author Hannah Lowe suggests a three-step process for composing a poem: 1) choose a number between 1 and 20; 2) choose a (different) number between 1 and 100; 3) choose a color, a mood, an atmospheric condition, a place and an animal. The first number will be related to the lines of your poem, while the second will have to be present somewhere in the body of the poem. Finally, the keywords that emerged from the third step will form the plot of your story.
- Use "mad libs". Online it is very easy to find some collections of "mad lib" templates. They are word games whose structure presents spaces with indications relating to the words (nouns, adjectives, verbs, etc.) that must be added to complete the outline of the story. Of course, you can let your imagination run wild, but be careful not to completely reproduce the model you are inspired by.
- The web is a container in which you can rummage to find various resources and find some precious "bricks" to kick off your composition. The Ilmiolibro and Bonifacci websites are a good place to start, but you can always take a closer look online.
Step 5. Correct the poem
Your essay will certainly not live up to your expectations on the first try. You may have to revise it several times before you have a good version, but don't give up! Some professional writers take months, sometimes years, to get a final draft.
- If you don't know where to start proofreading, start reading the poem aloud. Point out passages that don't "sound good" to you. So, ask yourself if there is something that seems strange to you or does not convince you, then think about how to replace these non-linear parts.
- Revision work will be most effective by examining each fragment separately. In fact, it might be too hard to correct all the lines at once. Focus on one small step at a time, and in the end you will be able to shape your poem to the fullest.
Step 6. Share your work
If you have children, read the poem to them! Maybe ask neighbors and friends to read it to their children. While you can get suggestions from adults, it will probably be much more helpful to consider the reaction of a younger audience.
Method 2 of 3: Writing Poetry For Kids
Step 1. Consider your audience
Like children, children also have special interests and needs as poetry readers. Focus on the age group you intend to target. So, after careful research, dedicate yourself to a generous reading of poems and appropriate collections.
Lewis Carroll's poems are examples of poems particularly suited to children. Works like "Ciciarampa" distort the language, use invented terms and different puns. For example, the poem begins with "It was cerfuoso and the viviscidi tuoppi / ghiarivan foracchiando in the pedano". Although they are fanciful words, their grammatical position helps readers to imagine their plausible meaning (and favors the literacy process in children). Read some of Carroll's poems to get some insight into the multiple ways of using language
Step 2. Write down some ideas
The brainstorming technique employed in Method 1 will also be effective for composing poems aimed at a less childish audience. The experiences or circumstances from which to draw inspiration may differ according to the age taken into consideration - for example, if you were to propose a poem about the first day of school to the children, they certainly would not have the same reaction aroused in the children. However, brainstorming methods will remain useful in identifying a topic to argue about.
Step 3. Compose the poem
The basic procedure for writing poems addressed to children is the same as that used for children. However, your approach may be more elaborate and complex, being an age group already equipped with the skills to approach complex and abstract concepts.
- Kids may appreciate short but intense poems, such as haiku, poems born in Japan and characterized by a three-line structure. The first and third lines are composed of five syllables each, the second of seven. They often describe a concrete object or image, like this one, referring to a cat: "Night falls, / the cat is on the roof. / Look at the moon." Due to the extremely small format, you will have to pause to choose every single word very carefully, but the result will be of great effect.
- Even concrete poems represent an enjoyable reading for children. These compositions are reproduced on paper according to a particular form, pertaining to the subject dealt with; for example, a poem that has the night as its main theme could take on the contours of a crescent moon, one centered on courage would take on the contours of a lion. Often they are not rhyming, but the correlation between the subject and the form will attract the attention of young readers. On the web it is easy to find many examples of this poetic form.
Step 4. Use rhetorical figures in your essay
The children have a linguistic finesse to better understand metaphors and other similar rhetorical figures. Try to look at an ordinary object, such as a hat or a toy, in another light, and make an alternative exposition of it, describing it in words similar to "like": for example, "That hat was like a mountain". Metaphors and other similar devices favor the development of creative observation in young readers.
Naomi Shihab Nye's poem "How to Paint a Donkey" uses a metaphor to explore the emotions of a child painting a donkey: "I could clean my brush / but I couldn't get rid of that voice. / While they watched / l 'I crumpled, / I let her blue body / dye my hand."
Step 5. Describe something familiar with unusual language
Choose an object and represent it without using the words that are usually associated with it. For example, try to describe a cat without using the words "tail" or "whiskers". This re-conception process has a positive outcome especially towards older children.
Carl Sandburg's poem "Fog" represents a common circumstance through unusual language: "The fog comes / on cat's paws. / He sits observing / the harbor and the city / on silent hips / and then goes away."
Step 6. When writing, use all your senses
Writers often rely too heavily on sight, but all other senses also inspire the kind of intense detail that appeals to young readers. Involve them all, from taste to smell, from hearing to touch.
Langston Hughes' "Song of the April Rain" is a good example. It begins like this: "Let the rain kiss you / Let its flowing silver drops patter on your head / Let the rain sing you a lullaby."
Step 7. Express feelings
Poetry that eviscerates emotions and feelings is very popular among slightly older kids, who are often interested in how to express their affective sphere. Poetry can help young readers to deepen their own sensitivity and venture into that of others.
Gwendolyn Brooks' poem "The Tiger Wearing White Gloves, or You Are What You Are" deals with diversity in a fun and understandable way
Step 8. Share your poem
If you have children, have them read your essay. Ask them what they liked and what they didn't like. You can also include your friends and family, but since the audience you have chosen is made up of young people, it is their reaction that you will need to be interested.
Method 3 of 3: Writing Poetry with Children
Step 1. Read with your child
Reading poetry together is a great way to develop your children's literacy skills and grow their love of language. As you read, ask them which passages they are most interested in and explain to them all the elements that they have not been able to fully understand.
As for rhyme and rhythm, these are great topics to discuss with younger readers. Ask your children to think of a word that rhymes with a term in the poem, or, as you read, have them clap their hands in time to the sound of the words
Step 2. Sing funny songs together
Nursery rhymes are perfect, thanks to their very catchy musicality. Write the lyrics, then help your child come up with a poem to sing to the same melody. If nothing comes to mind, use the original lyrics of the song as a template.
Step 3. Compose an acrostic poem together
If your children can write their own name, have them reproduce it on a piece of paper, leaving a space between the letters (if they still can't do this, do this yourself). At this point, ask them to think of a poem in which each verse begins with a letter of the name. This customized version will help develop their language skills and make them feel special.
You could also help your children compose acrostic poems from other terms. Using the word "dog", you can write something like this: "With a slipper in your mouth / Approaching my bed / You won't let me sleep anymore / And you cuddle me"
Step 4. Try the "I See" game
It always starts with the same line: "I see with my eyes / something that begins with …". Practicing rhyming sounds will get children to approach them naturally. "Io Vedo" stimulates your children to pay attention to details and to learn to describe them.
Step 5. Create a "found poem"
This tutorial is suitable for older kids. Give your child a magazine, newspaper, or book and have them underline several words that they find interesting or intriguing. There must be no particular reason for choosing these words. When he finds 20-50, help him use them to compose a poem. If that's not enough, you can always add more.
Step 6. Take a walk in the middle of nature
Along the way, ask your kids to observe what strikes them most, from the weather to the landscape. If they can write, they will write everything down in a notebook; if not, you can do it for them. Once back home, your children will select the notes to use to compose the poem. They will decide whether to tell a story, represent a landscape or a state of mind.
Encourage your children to look for definite and concrete words to describe their experience. For example, instead of saying "the weather is nice outside", you could encourage them to bring out some sensory details, such as "the bright sun warms my skin" or "the blue of the sky looks like the color of my sweater"
Advice
- Children tend to have a very limited attention span over time, so the poems you write for them should be very short and simple.
- Be bold! You can cover all the topics you can imagine. Everyday experiences are often great subjects for a poem, but you could still write about dragons and unicorns.
- Be patient with yourself. Writing is difficult, time-consuming and requires a lot of practice. You may not find your first poems satisfying, but keep trying. You will improve!
