An introduction to writing children's poetry
This is an essential skill for school visits, plus a lot of fun in general!
I have a confession to make. I’d never considered writing children’s poetry until I was commissioned to write a 25th birthday poem for Eureka! The National Children’s Museum in 2017. Even though I’d been delivering regular school visits for 4 years at that point. And it’s no exaggeration to say this was a life-changing shift for me.
That commission sparked a chain of events that led to my début children’s collection, A Hurricane in My Head, being published by Bloomsbury Education in 2019. This was pivotal regarding how many doors it’s opened since then. But mainly, it’s given me a body of work that I still perform on every school visit - which makes a colossal difference.
Aside from the benefit of giving me material for school visits (which then also generates school visits itself), writing poetry for children is a lot of fun. Before my Eurkeka! commission, my work was spiky, political, often sweary, and rooted in socio-political references that wouldn’t land in a classroom.
Writing specifically for children allows you to appreciate poetry completely differently. You view it through a fresh prism and must follow a completely different set of rules.
You should never understimate children or ‘dumb down’ your work; you’re writing for an age group with ravenous and overactive imaginations; you’re writing for an age group with untainted hope and optimism; and you’re also writing for an age group that revels in cheeky rebellion.
I’m not an expert in this field, but I thought it’d be useful to provide a gentle introduction - using four poems as an example. Paid subscribers will receive a bespoke writing prompt relating to each of those four poems at the bottom of the post.
As always, I hope this is useful. Please share any poems inspired by the prompts!
Matt Abbott - Homework Excuses
One of my favorite themes in A Hurricane in My Head is playful rebellion. Children love it when you push boundaries - particularly with universal themes such as bedtimes, going to school in the morning, accompanying grown-ups on the “big shop”, etc.
And everybody - absolutely everybody - knows that the most famous excuse for not having your homework is, “my dog ate it”. It’s been doing the rounds since before I was at school, and even the pupils at an international school in Switzerland knew it when prompted.
So, I wrote this Homework Excuses poem for my debut collection. It’s a fast-paced and playful list poem, ranging from the feasible to the far-fetched. Children love it when I perform this in a classroom. It instantly wins them over because they feel like I’m on their side. This is a vital stance to establish on school visits.
Christina Rossetti - What is Pink?
This is a beautiful poem that allows you to embrace the simplicity of the world. It’s a list poem that focuses on the sublime and, again, the universal. The closing line provides light humour, and, in general, this poem celebrates the art form’s ability to profoundly and lyrically frame the most basic things in life.
What is pink? A rose is pink By the fountain’s brink. What is red? A poppy’s red In its barley bed. What is blue? The sky is blue Where the clouds float through. What is white? A swan is white Sailing in the light. What is yellow? Pears are yellow, Rich and ripe and mellow. What is green? The grass is green, With small flowers between. What is violet? Clouds are violet In the summer twilight. What is orange? Why, an orange, Just an orange!
There’s a gentle rhyme scheme, helping it float along. And as it’s over 150 years old, it’s entirely devoid of any contemporary references - emerging from a time that couldn’t even start to comprehend our technological age. I feel as though this is increasingly important - particularly for children. Poetry should be a space to escape such things and appreciate the natural world around us.
Dennis Lee - The Secret Place
This poem also highlights poetry’s ability to write profoundly whilst being wonderfully simple. I also think it links nicely to mental well-being and self-care. It’s something that everybody can relate to, even at primary school age, and it demonstrates poetry’s ability to frame such thoughts in a way that can immediately soothe and inspire.
There’s a place I go, inside myself, Where nobody else can be, And none of my friends can tell it’s there – Nobody knows but me. It’s hard to explain the way it feels, Or even where I go. It isn’t a place in time or space, But once I’m there, I know. It’s tiny, it’s shiny, it can’t be seen, But it’s big as the sky at night... I try to explain and it hurts my brain, But once I’m there, it’s right. There’s a place I know inside myself, And it’s neither big nor small, And whenever I go, it feels as though I never left at all.
You can listen to a recording of Dennis reading the poem here. It was originally published in The Ice Cream Store in 1991 by HarperCollins.
Wes Magee - The Boneyard Rap
This is a classic example of how musicality and wordplay can captivate children and give poetry an extra dimension. Even the fact that it has “rap” in the title will win some children over. And practising performing this poem will help you to hone your classroom skills - practice delivering it faster and faster to wrap your tongue around the trickier lines!
This is the rhythm of the boneyard rap, knuckle bones click and hand bones clap, finger bones flick and thigh bones slap, when you’re doing the rhythm of the boneyard rap. Wooooooooo! It’s the boneyard rap and it’s a scare. Give your bones a shake-up if you dare. Rattle your teeth and waggle your jaw and let’s do the boneyard rap once more. This is the rhythm of the boneyard rap, elbow bones clink and backbones snap, shoulder bones chink and toe bones tap, when you’re doing the rhythm of the boneyard rap. Wooooooooo! It’s the boneyard rap and it’s a scare. Give your bones a shake-up if you dare. Rattle your teeth and waggle your jaw and let’s do the boneyard rap once more. This is the rhythm of the boneyard rap, ankle bones sock and arm bones flap, pelvic bones knock and knee bones zap, when you’re doing the rhythm of the boneyard rap. Wooooooooo!
Again, you can listen to a recording of Wes reading the poem here. This poem completely springs to life when being read aloud, and if I’m honest, these poems carry the most weight in classrooms and assemblies - lively, dynamic, playful, and musical.
This poem was originally published in 2000. Wes was ludicrously prolific - writing around 90 books - and worked extensively in schools.
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