Do your kids groan when they hear the word ‘poetry’? It’s no secret that this genre can be challenging, but do not fear! Our ideas will help you make poetry more accessible so that your learners might even start liking it!
This compilation will help your students deepen their understanding of poetry and support them as they apply this knowledge to their writing. So get ready to transform their relationship to poetry with our list of 51 fun poetry activities for kids!
1. Rhyming Dominoes
Turn the classic game of dominoes into a fun poetry activity! Your kids will have a blast matching words with the same rhyme scheme. Think about extending their learning even more by having them use these words to write their own poems!
Learn More: No Time For Flash Cards
2. Doggie Haiku
Haikus are a notably difficult type of poetry, but your students will simply adore making their own creative poems using the book “Dogku”. Why not have a poetry slam to see which of your amazing poets wrote the best one?
Learn More: Teaching Fourth
3. Haikubes
This is another great game to instill a little fun into one of the more challenging types of poetry. Just roll the dice and be amazed at the haikus your students start to create! To save money, write words on pieces of paper and have your students pick them out of a hat!
Learn More: Amazon
4. Blackout Poetry
This one is fantastic for getting even your most reluctant learners to participate in poetry! Distribute old texts to your kiddos and let them choose one that catches their eye. Your kids will love scanning the text and then circling, highlighting, or blacking out words to create their own unique poetry!
Learn More: Just Add Students
5. Push Pin Poetry
This activity will make a great display board for your classroom while also providing an excellent stimulus for your kiddies to craft some pretty cool poems. They’ll choose to create poems on their own poetry or have some extra fun by adding to the creations of their classmates!
Learn More: Residence Life Crafts
6. Songs to Poem
If your class loves music then this one’s for you! Using the lyrics of a modern pop song, you can teach your students how to explore meaningful poetry and engage them in discussions about figurative language. So start getting your kiddos rockin’ to poetry!
Learn More: Teachers Pay Teachers
7. Book Spine Poetry
Your avid readers will enjoy this fun poetry activity! Have your students create unique poems by using the titles of books. You can keep things simple by having them choose titles from one genre, or mix it up by challenging them to combine fiction and nonfiction titles!
Learn More: Teachers Pay Teachers
8. Pop Sonnets
This is a great way to engage even your most reluctant students in analyzing poems. Hook them on poetry by showing and discussing these amazing examples of modern-day songs that have been turned into an interesting type of poem – Shakespearean sonnets!
Learn More: Pop Sonnet
9. Figurative Language Truth or Dare
Your students’ curiosity is sure to be piqued when you introduce this truth-or-dare poetry game! They can learn all about techniques like figurative language that can be used to spice up poetry. This game is great for a whole class review and will surely be loads of fun!
Learn More: Teachers Pay Teachers
10. Literary Term Practice Game
This is another game perfect for a whole class review! Your kids can play in groups to make their way around the game board as they explore literary terms and figurative language. They’ll be having so much fun with this one, that they won’t even notice you’re using it to check their comprehension skills of key literary techniques!
Learn More: Teachers Pay Teachers
11. Invisible Ink Poetry
Secret poems? Decoding messages? Your kids will surely be engaged with this fun poetry activity. All it takes is lemon juice, a paintbrush, and some paper, and your students will be all set to create secret poems that they can then pass to a classmate to decode! Then, just apply heat and the mystery verses will be revealed!
Learn More: Poetry 4 Kids
12. Poetry Inspiration Scrapbook
At one point, every writer suffers from writer’s block and your kids are no exception. This scrapbook activity is a great way to combat this challenge and will help your kids create some excellent picture-inspired poetry! Just give them some old magazines, scissors, glue, and a blank canvas to get them started!
Learn More: Poetry 4 Kids
13. Clip It Rhyming Center
It’s never too early to instill an appreciation for poetry and your younger students will love learning about rhyming with this fun activity! You can use this poetry unit with simple words and syllables or try expanding this with multisyllabic words for a bit more of a challenge.
Learn More: Education To The Core
14. Tone Tunes
Get your poetry rockin’ with this music-themed activity! Your older students will begin to understand the pretty challenging concept of writer’s tone by connecting music to poetry. They’ll use the free printable to come up with ideas around a given tone, then explore how this applies to pieces of music!
Learn More: Teach Writing
15. Concrete Poems and Shape Poems
Your artists and poets alike will love creating concrete and shape poems in this activity. This one will take a little guidance to make sure your students don’t spend too much time drawing their shapes, as the focus should be on creating concrete poetry!
Learn More: The Room Mom
16. Acrostic Poems
This is a perfect introductory activity to get your kids excited about poetry! You can use this for teaching word associations across a variety of topics and content areas. If you think your kiddos are ready, try adding in some grammar rules to make this one a little more challenging!
Learn More: My Poetic Side
17. Character Cinquains
Sometimes those complex poetry structures can be a bit tricky to teach! This activity breaks down cinquains into an easy-to-use teaching template. Use this worksheet to show your budding poets how to create their very own cinquain poem!
Learn More: Worksheet Place
18. Texting Couplets
Your older students will love an activity that actually asks them to text! This is a rather unique take on poetry and will really get your kids engaged in thinking about how to craft a text couplet. Just make sure they’re focusing on texting poetry in class!
Learn More: Teachers Pay Teachers
19. Rhyming Worksheets
These foundational and ready-to-use worksheets are great reinforcers for teaching rhyming. You can use these in your instruction as a warm-up activity, an introduction to poetry, or to help your littlest poets start to understand rhyming words.
Learn More: Kids Connect
20. Online Magnetic Poetry
Struggling for words? Use this digital tool to introduce poetry and show your students some poetry techniques. This one makes it easy on your poets as the words are already provided – they just move them over to create what will surely be some fun and interesting poems!
Learn More: Magnetic Poetry
21. Found Poetry
This is similar to the scrapbook activity previously mentioned, but this one only requires construction paper! It’s a great way for you to save money and resources by reusing old books and magazines, and your students will love cutting and gluing to create their poems!
Learn More: There’s Just One Mommy
22. Paint Chip Poetry Game
Another excellent game to provide your kids with different stimuli for writing poems is Paint Chip Poetry! These paint chips have writing prompts included on them, but you can also make your own paint chip poetry with some old paint samples lying around. Your visual learners will love this one!
Learn More: Amazon
23. Reading Progressive Dinner Stations
Add a little spark into your classroom community by using the theme of a progressive dinner party to teach literary analysis This engaging and in-depth activity is great for teaching about all genres – including poetry – and is certain to generate some interesting ‘dinner table’ discussion!
Learn More: Teachers Pay Teachers
24. Favorite Poem Project
Instead of having your kids write poetry, why not ask them to interview people about their favorite poems? This project is a great endeavor that will expose them to a wide range of poetry styles. Have them gather the information and then come together to share their findings with the class!
Learn More: Favorite Poem Project
25. Metaphor Dice
Struggling to think of literary techniques to use in poems? Your kids will get ideas to create metaphors by rolling these cool dice. They’ll use a verb or two to combine the inspiring words into stellar metaphors. This is the perfect activity for partners or small groups!
Learn More: Amazon
26. Haiku Tunnel Books
Turn words into a three-dimensional poetry project with these awesome books! This technique is actually from the mid-18th century, but your modern-day students are guaranteed to love creating this foldable. You’ll guide your students to make an accordion-style poetry book that is sure to be a hit!
Learn More: Teach Kids Art
27. Poetry Bingo
Yet another fun group poetry game! This is the classic game of bingo with a twist that will have your students checking their comprehension of each technique. Make sure you remember to have a few prizes on hand for the winners!
Learn More: Jennifer Findley
28. Roll & Answer Poetry
This fantastic resource can be implemented in a variety of ways to suit your teaching style. You can choose to have your kiddos work independently or partner them up for a little collaboration! The questions will also help you keep an eye on their understanding of different types of poetry.
Learn More: Teachers Pay Teachers
29. Silly Limericks
Who doesn’t love a limerick? This worksheet will soon become a favorite poetry game for your kids as they create their own funny poems by filling in the blanks. This is the perfect way to make what can be a pretty complex poetry structure a little more accessible for your students!
Learn More: Steamsational
30. Nursery Rhyme Craft
Your littlest learners will love making nursery rhymes come to life with this fun activity! This is a great way to introduce poetry to your younger learners by having them make a craft from simple materials, that reflects a common nursery rhyme. They’ll be inspired to write poetry of their own in no time!
Learn More: All Kids Network
31. Poetry Speed-Dating
This is a low-risk way to get your learners excited about poetry! Display a variety of poetry anthologies around your classroom and set your students free to browse! Your kids will love being able to casually sift through these books to find a few poems that appeal to them!
Learn More: Teach Nouvelle
32. Nursery Rhyme Wall
This one is perfect for your little ones who might need some movement or a hands-on learning experience. They won’t be able to resist building a wall out of their favorite rhymes or nursery rhymes. This one is also great for supporting the development of their motor skills!
Learn More: Toddler Approved
33. Collaborative Poetry
Get your kids together to write their poetic masterpieces! They’ll love this easier approach to creating a poem, where they’ll take turns working with a partner to write a line of a poem. This is a great way to instill a love of poetry and a little collaborative spirit into your classroom!
Learn More: The Literary Maven
34. Color Poems
Color poems are great for exploring creative writing through an analysis of different colors! During this process, you will encourage your students to brainstorm words, actions, and objects that they associate with each color, resulting in some pretty unexpected and unique poems!
Learn More: Teach Living Poets
35. Poetic Journaling
This poetic journaling activity creates a safe space for your students to let their creative juices flow so they can delve deeper into their thoughts and experiences! Start by giving your kiddos a specific category prompt like a season, type of poem, or emotion, and then set them free to write!
Learn More: Poetry 4 Kids
36. Ephemeral Poetry
This activity is great for engaging your kiddos who avoid writing at all costs. Ephemeral poetry uses a surface that will eventually disappear which can often be a little less daunting for these kids. Have them write on a chalkboard or a dewy or snow-covered window; all they’ll need is a finger and a little imagination!
Learn More: Michael Dickel
37. Soundscapes
This is the perfect idea for your kids who enjoy listening to or mixing music. Soundscapes use background music and other sounds to create poetry inspired by the noises we hear in our everyday lives. You will be amazed at the auditory inspirations that ignite your students’ musical poems!
Learn More: Soundscapes
38. Photo Poetry
Your students who need some visual support will enjoy this activity. You can have them create a poem in response to a beautiful or thought-provoking photograph to share with the class. They’ll learn to appreciate poetry while also gaining perspective by understanding that not everyone sees things the same way!
Learn More: Little Infinite
39. Alphabet Poem
This one is perfect for all ages. Have your kiddies make a poem using words that start with each letter of the alphabet, or for older students, have them write a line of their poem with each letter. You can’t go wrong with the variations – just be prepared for some unusual results!
Learn More: Writer’s Digest
40. Ode to an Object
This activity is great for teaching poetry and for getting to know your students! They’ll love the different options involved in this activity as they choose from three types of odes to write a lyric poem praising an object, person, or event that they cherish.
Learn More: Thought Co
41. Memory Poem
The secret to creating a good memory poem is to teach your kids to be specific about a past event. Taking a walk down memory lane will engage them in the details of their lives and is great for helping them express the impact of both positive and challenging events.
Learn More: Power Poetry
42. Mirror Poem
Are your poets ready for a challenge? This activity focuses on the structure of a palindrome where the writing of two poems reflects one another. The poem doesn’t have to be an exact mirror, making this a great activity for you to use to teach your kiddos about word order and the power of punctuation!
Learn More: Medium
43. Travel Poems
Encourage your kiddies to think about their own travels to inspire their next poems! The best part is that your kids can write about their experiences of places they’ve been, but they can also use their imagination to create poems about destinations they aspire to visit!
Learn More: Laure Wanders
44. Dreamscape Poem
Your students are probably already talking about the crazy dream they had last night, so why not add this to your poetry instruction? Dreamscape poems open up the door for your kids to tap into their imaginative powers and bring their dreams to life by crafting poems about their dreams! Anything goes in dreams, so let them use this as an excuse to go wild!
Learn More: Three Teachers Talk
45. List Poem
Parents, teachers, and students are inundated on a daily basis with all sorts of lists. Whether it’s a grocery list, a chore list, or what seems to be a never-ending “to-do” list; your learners will love this spin that makes the everyday list a little less boring and a lot more poetic!
Learn More: Education
46. Vocabulary Challenge
This activity offers an in-depth look at vocabulary words in twelve curated poems. Your kiddos will dive deep to understand how context clues can help them determine the meaning of the words. Whether you are introducing new terms or want your them to build their vocabulary organically, this activity is a winner!
Learn More: Moore English
47. Reverse Poetry
Your kids will love deciphering the meanings found in this type of poetry! When read from top to bottom, this poem means one thing, but when read from bottom to top, the meaning changes. Analyze a couple together and then for a challenge, have your students give their own a try!
Learn More: Hey Natayle
48. Emotion Poems
Are your kids in need of a little social-emotional learning? Emotion poems are a great way for them to harness and explore things that can sometimes feel pretty overwhelming. Whether they focus on one or more emotions, this is a sure way for them to express themselves!
Learn More: Poetry Boost
49. Rap Poetry
What kid doesn’t love music? There are plenty of different genres out there, but rap is especially suited for connecting your kids’ interests to poetry. They’ll love analyzing the beats, rhythm, and rhyme of these examples, and then be sure to let them choose their favorite school-appropriate rap song to analyze!
Learn More: TPT
50. Recipe Poetry
Your students’ ears and eyes are sure to perk up with the mention of food! Now, combine that curiosity with poetry and you now have a recipe for a great writing lesson! In this activity, your kids will create a poem that reads like a recipe, using ingredients as metaphors. Bon appetit!
Learn More: Teachers And Writers Magazine
51. Contrast Poems
This in-depth activity will get your kiddos thinking critically about poetry while also giving them an opportunity to practice close reading and annotation. Give them practice comparing and contrasting poetry and watch as their interest in this genre starts to unfold!
Learn More: Teacher Vision
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