As I've written before, we've used Mad Libs to smooth the way in lots of different circumstances. For example, Mad Libs are a great substitute for dinner conversation, a great travel activity, and an essential item to have at family gatherings.

Now, if you need a hilarious way to encourage your kids to love poetry, Mad Libs will provide the entry point.

To get you started, we've created four Mad Libs for you to do with your kids. Once you get the hang of it, kids can create their own Mad Libs based on famous poems or write their own!

Poetry Mad Libs

Directions

If you are unfamiliar with Mad Libs, the directions are simple. Traditional Mad Libs consist of a short narrative in which random words are removed. Each blank spot in the Mad Lib indicates which part of speech is needed to fill in the missing word. Noun, verb, adverb, etc. One person asks another person to contribute a suggestion for the missing word and then writes the missing word into the Mad Lib.

Enjoy!

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The purpose of this poetry writing challenge is to expose kids to different kinds of poetic forms and to make the prospect of writing poetry totally un-scary. At the end of 4 weeks, they will be amazed at how easy it was to learn to write poetry.

Each weekly challenge consists of two parts. The first part is an exercise that introduces a type of poetic speech. The second part directs kids to compose a simple poem in a specific poetic form.

I've organized the challenge so parents (and teachers and librarians!) can be relaxed about following the guidelines. And take note because even though it's called a poetry writing challenge, but kids don't actually have to pick up a pencil if they don't want to!

Each weekly challenge also includes extension activity suggestions for the ambitious among you, as well as books to read.

MORE: If you are brand new to poetry, try our weekly poetry reading challenge!

No more stalling! On to the challenge!

MORE: Completing the poetry writing challenge will help kids mark off squares on their Poetry Bingo cards!

Happy Writing!

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It was a marvelous experience, and poetry has remained a joyful part of our daily life. Since the completing the poetry reading challenge, rarely a day goes by when we do not read or recite a poem.

National Poetry Month was established in 1996 as a month long celebration of the literary form. Most likely your child's school will include poems in the curriculum during April, but I encourage you to read poetry in your home as well.

For each week of the challenge, you will be directed to an in-depth post with details and an (optional) printable of that week's poem. Read on below for an overview of what each weekly challenge looks like.

MORE: Don't forget! The reading challenge also helps kids complete their Poetry Bingo cards!

Reading Challenge Instructions

The good news is the challenge rules are very flexible! Each week's post contains a poem to print out and display in your home. The primary objective is to read a poem out loud with your kids at least once a day for a week. Each post also contains extension ideas and further resources for more ambitious kids and parents.

Week 1:

Poem: "A Child's Thought" by Robert Louis Stevenson

Extras: Frequently Asked Questions about how to participate. Extension ideas that can be used throughout the challenge.

See the post and get the printable --> Poetry challenge week 1

Week 2:

Poem: "A Word" by Emily Dickinson (plus a suggested alternative)

Extras: Websites to visit for biographical information and poem analysis.

See the post and get the printable --> Poetry challenge week 2

Week 3: 

Poem: "There Was an Old Man with a Beard" by Edward Lear

Extras: More Lear poems; invent your own limericks

See the post and get the printable --> Poetry challenge week 3

Week 4:

Poem: Choose between "What are Heavy" and "The Wind" by Cristina Rossetti

Extras: Learn about the author, read more Rossetti poems.

See the post and get the printable --> Poetry challenge week 4

Week 5:

Poem: Selection from A Midsummer Night's Dream by William Shakespeare

Extras: Watch clips of the scene, read books inspired by Shakespeare.

See the post and get the printable --> Poetry challenge week 5

The most important thing to remember is that the challenge is not a test! The objective is to enjoy the experience of reading poems, not to add another tedious task to your to do list. In the weekly posts, I recount our family's experience with the weekly poems, including surprises we made along the way.

Enjoy!

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As stated in the introduction to the challenge, completing the assignments can be done spontaneously, which is exactly what happened in our household. Throughout the past few weeks find myself suddenly chatting with the boys about the chosen poetry topic in those hard to fill moments like getting ready for bed, walking home from school, as well as family dinner time.

However, you can jump into the challenge any time and complete the weeks in any order!

The other pleasant surprise about this writing challenge is how funny it is. Every exercise and activity makes us dissolve into giggles! Originally I had planned the final week to teach metaphor, but based on our experience, "hyperbole" seemed like a great way to end the challenge on a hilarious note.

Writing Challenge #1: Hyperbole

Write several hyperbolic sentences or phrases.

What is hyperbole? An hyperbole is an exaggerated statement or comparison that is not meant to be taken literally. Some of us (*ahem* cough-cough) speak frequently in hyperbole. Of course, I would never do that, not in a million years.

Examples of hyperbole in poetry:

I’ll love you, dear, I’ll love you
Till China and Africa meet,
And the river jumps over the mountain
And the salmon sing in the street,
I’ll love you till the ocean
Is folded and hung up to dry

- W.H. Auden, from "As I Walked One Evening"

I'm making a pizza the size of the sun,
a pizza that's sure to weigh more than a ton,
a pizza too massive to pick up and toss,
a pizza resplendent with oceans of sauce.

-Jack Prelutsky, from "A Pizza the Size of the Sun"

Extension Activities

• Find examples of hyperbole in children's poetry books or picture books.
• Illustrate your hyperboles.
• Draw a picture representing a hyperbole and have others guess what it is.
• Have a hyperbole contest. Keep trying to one up each other to see who can come up with the most outrageous statement. Try to include lots of descriptive words.
• Want another way to make kids laugh while learning about poetry? Try our printable Poetry Mad Libs.

Writing Challenge #2: Haiku

Write a haiku.

Haiku is often one of the first poetry forms that kids learn but I've left it for last. We've written haiku before and I am curious to see how my kids' haiku turn out after the last 3 weeks of learning and practicing different literary devices.

What is haiku? Haiku is a traditional form of Japanese poetry. Traditionally, nature inspires the content of the poems but contemporary haiku often cover a range of subjects. It has a formal 17-syllable structure. The first line is 5 syllables, the second is 7, and the last is 5. (Haiku has a rich tradition and there are many nuances to the "rules" - but I am sticking with the modern basics here. This is not an advanced poetry class!)

Extension activities:

• Illustrate your haiku
• Check out titles from our list of haiku books for kids.
• Read about the history of haiku
• Make a haiku tunnel book!

Did you complete any or all of the challenges? Please let us know! How did it go? Was it fun? Did you modify any of the ideas in a way that worked for your family? I'd love to hear your stories!

The post Poetry Writing Challenge (Week 4) - Hyperbole and Haiku appeared first on What Do We Do All Day.

Last week's poetry writing challenge topic was alliteration and color poems. My 6-year-old adored making up alliterative sentences! I had to ask him to take a break while we were brushing his teeth because he was getting toothpaste all over his face!

MORE: Check out the poetry reading challenge, which is even easier to complete that this writing program!

As mentioned in the in the introductory post about our easy going poetry writing series, kids need not actually put pen to paper to "write" poems! In fact, we still have not done any actual pen and paper writing!

Most of our discussions and poetry composing has been done at the family dinner table or while we are getting ready for bed. Feel free to do the same!

MORE: Poetry bookmark coloring pages

Poetry Writing Challenge #1 - Onomatopoeia

Write a phrase or line using onomatopoeia.

What is Onomatopoeia? Onomatopoeia is when a word sounds like its meaning. Giggle, thump, fizzle, crack, murmur, gurgle, babble, chortle, fwoosh, meow, chirp.

Here is a classic example:

Hark, hark!
Bow-wow.
The watch-dogs bark!
Bow-wow.
Hark, hark! I hear
The strain of strutting chanticleer
Cry, 'cock-a-diddle-dow!'

- Shakespeare, The Tempest, Act 1, sc. 2

... and a more contemporary one.

Your can't make me eat that,
it's slimy and gooey
and icky and yucky
and greasy and gluey.

- Jack Prelutsky, from "You Can't Make Me Eat That" in It's Raining Pigs and Noodles

I simply adore onomatopoeia! It's so dramatic. However it is very hard to spell!

Extension Activities

Remember, these extension activities are totally optional. If your kids don't want to sit down and do them, don't press. As the smart grown-up you are, you'll be able to figure out ways to sneak them into conversation during the day.

• Make a list of as many onomatopoetic words you can. Divide them into categories, such as sounds (clank, moo) or perhaps elements (water: gush, burble; air: fwoosh, swish)
• Get physical. Challenge your kids to add a movement to the sound! This is a great indoor boredom buster that will burn lots of pent-up energy.
• Read a picture book and ask kids to assign an onomatopoetic word to actions in the illustrations. Wordless books are great for this! (See our list of favorite wordless books.)
• Draw pictures of what the words sound like. This could get very abstract!

BONUS: Working on the exercises in the poetry writing challenge will help your kids complete tasks for Poetry Bingo!

Poetry Writing Challenge #2 - Rhyming Couplets

Write a rhyming couplet.

What is a rhyming couplet? A couplet is two lines in which the final word in each line rhymes. Both lines have the same metre, or rhythm.

Here are two examples everyone will know!

I think that I shall never see
A poem lovely as a tree.

- Joyce Kilmer

Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall

I was a little worried that this might be too hard, but then I realized my silly 6-year-old likes to make up rhyming lines like this all the time. An intentional exercise like this one will tap into that creativity.

Extension Activities

• Pound out the rhythm of a couplet by clapping or knocking on a hard surface.
• Use onomatopoeia in your couplet.
• Use alliteration in your couplet. (From week 2)
• Use simile in your couplet.  (From week 1)
• Illustrate your couplet.
• Many picture books are written in rhyming couplets. See if your kids can find one on your bookshelf or in the library.
• Ambitious kids and families can write triplets or quatrains!

Next up! The final week of the Poetry Writing Challenge. Can you guess what the topic will be?

The post Poetry Writing Challenge (Week 3) - Onomatopoeia and Couplets appeared first on What Do We Do All Day.

Although you can jump in anytime, be sure to read the instructions in the post about week 1 here.

Last week's poetry writing challenge introduced similes. True to the spirit of the challenge, we stayed casual. One evening around the dinner table we made up similes about our day. Then, the kids turned them into songs! Let me tell you, my youngest was ecstatic about singing a song about himself!

MORE: If you prefer a poetry reading challenge, or wish to double down on poetry awesomeness, you can find the entire reading challenge from last year in this post.

This week's poetry writing concept is alliteration.

Poetry Writing Exercise #1

Write a sentence using alliteration.

What is alliteration? Alliteration is when closely connected words begin with the same letter or sound. Read the following examples:

The fair breeze blew, the white foam flew,
The furrow followed free;
- Samuel Taylor Coleridge, “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner”

And one your kids may already know:

Luke’s duck likes lakes. Luke Luck licks lakes. Luke’s duck licks lakes. Duck takes licks in lakes Luke Luck likes. Luke Luck takes licks in lakes duck likes.
- Dr. Seuss, Fox in Socks

Extension Activities:

• Remember, you don't have to do any physical writing. Alliteration is a great oral exercise and even toddlers and preschoolers can get involved.
• Read or recite nursery rhymes and look for alliteration.
• Read a few favorite rhyming books and have the kids point out alliteration examples. Once kids start looking they will be amazed at how often it is used!
• Walk around the house or the neighborhood and describe objects using alliteration. "Big building." "Green grass." "Peculiar pet shop." Challenge older kids to come up with more elaborate phrases.
• Try out these tongue twisters, including the most difficult tongue twister as determined by MIT! Print out our lunch bag note tongue twisters and send them into school with your kids each day during the week.

Poetry Writing Exercise #2

Write a 5 senses color poem.

Choose a favorite color and write one line for each of the five senses. For example:

Yellow looks like sunshine.

Yellow smells like ripe bananas.

Yellow tastes like lemon drops.

Yellow feels like fuzzy chicks.

Yellow sounds like crunching corn.

Extension Activities:

• Illustrate your color poem.
• Try creating descriptive lines using alliteration. For example, "Yellow tastes like luscious lemon drops lazily melting in my mouth."
• Memorize the poem and recite it.

Next up! Week 3 of the Poetry Writing Challenge

The post Poetry Writing Challenge (Week 2) - Alliteration and Color appeared first on What Do We Do All Day.

This poetry writing challenge is an excellent next step after you complete our challenge was all about getting you to start reading poetry on a regular basis, but completing that challenge is not a prerequisite.

How the Poetry Writing Challenge works

Just as with our poetry reading challenge, the rules are very flexible. Use the weekly prompts and suggestions, but don't hesitate to stray from the path. You can use our guidelines as a jumping off point to explore further, or stick to the basics.

The writing challenge includes four weeks of prompts. Each week includes two exercises to encourage your children (and you!) to think about how to compose a poem. The first exercise will introduce a literary concept, the other will get your kids writing a poem. You can choose to do one or both exercises.

SURPRISE! You or your kids do not actually have to write anything down. Want to make it an oral exercise? That's fine. If your kids don't want want pick up a pencil, don't let the physical act of writing get in the way.

Poetry Writing Exercise #1

Write a simile. (I've always thought that similes were easier than metaphors, so we'll start here.)

What is a simile? A simile is a phrase that makes a comparison between two objects or actions using a specific connecting word, such as like, as, so, etc.

O my Luve's like a red, red rose, 

- Robert Burns

Does it dry up
like a raisin in the sun?

- Langston Hughes

Extension activities:

• Illustrate your simile!
• See how many similes you can invent for a single object.

Poetry Writing Exercise #2

Write an acrostic poem. An acrostic poem is one of the easiest types of poems for kids. An acrostic poem uses the letters in a word to begin the first word in each line. For example, the letters of the following acrostic spell out "POEM"

Poems

Only

Entertain

Monkeys on

Saturdays

Many kids love to write an acrostic poem using their names.

Extension activities:

• Illustrate the acrostic.
• Create a collage by cutting out the first letter of each line from a magazine.

Up Next: Poetry Writing Challenge - Week 2!

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Sure, it's the final week, but If you are new to the challenge you can start at any time and complete the weeks in any order! Be sure to read the extremely simple rules in the introductory post.

The most enjoyable benefit of the challenge was that both of my kids ended up memorizing all the poems simply by reciting them every day. My boys are quite competitive and neither wanted to be outshone by the other! They loved to show off by reciting the poems from memory!

MORE: Tips for memorizing poetry with kids

William Shakespeare

I could not end this poetry celebration without including William Shakespeare. Not only is Shakespeare my favorite poet, but yesterday was his birthday is in April.

A Midsummer Night's Dream has always been my pick for a child's first introduction to Shakespeare. It's a funny and imaginative play with themes and characters that especially speak to children.

MORE: Read the books from our list of Shakespeare for kids!

Oberon speaks the monologue that begins, "I know a bank..." in Act 2, Scene 1. The four lines will transport your children to a magical landscape where their imagination can soar.

Printer friendly copy --> A Midsummer Night's Dream poem

Extension Activities

Read the entirety of Oberon's speech, or pick up a copy of the play from your library and read the scene.

Watch a clip of the speech from a performance at the Royal Shakespeare Company.

The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust has a handy summary of the plot of A Midsummer Night's Dream.

Up Next! Poetry Writing Challenge for Kids! We created a 4 week easy challenge so that even the beginner-est of beginners can find joy in writing their own poems!

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Last week's poem by Edward lear was a silly one. In addition to reading the poem every day, we spent the week making up ridiculous (and quite terrible, from a literary stand point) limericks.

In other news for National Poetry Month: I have a stack of poetry books from the library and my youngest has been bringing me one of them to read almost every day. I recite "Jabberwocky" to him every night while he brushes his teeth! He has it mostly memorized himself and now I am trying to convince him to allow me to capture it with video! Wouldn't that be a treat for the grandparents.

If you are new to the challenge, don't fret! The beauty of the program is that you can jump in any time. And not just National Poetry Month! Read the official rules and FAQ in the introductory post. Although "rules" is much too strong a word. The basic idea is to live with, and recite a single poem for a week. Let the poem sink in. Enjoy its many meanings. Memorize it.

Christina Rossetti

Christina Rosetti was a 19th century British-Italian poet. She wrote a great deal of poems for children, as well as ballads and poems with spiritual imagery.

This week I'm featuring two poems by Christina Rossetti for you to choose from. Both short poems are delightful and will open the flood gates for conversation with your kids, especially the poem, "What Are Heavy?"

Printer friendly copy --> Rossetti poems (both poems are in the same pdf file)

Next up! Week 5 (final week!). Can you guess who the featured poet will be? Hint: He's the most famous poet of them all!

Poetry Extras:

• Fine free digital copies of Rossetti's works at Project Gutenberg.
• Learn more about Christina Rossetti.

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If you missed the introduction to the challenge, you can read all the details in the first Poetry Reading Challenge for Kids post, but the only detail you need to remember is to simply read the poem out loud once a day! And if you missed week 2 you can catch up any time with the Emily Dickinson poem.

Edward Lear

Diverging wildly from Dickinson, this week's poem by Edward Lear will tickle your funny bone. Edward Lear was a 19th century British poet best known for his nonsense rhymes and limericks.

The popularity of his poetry is a good reminder that poems do not always have to be deep and meaningful to be significant and enjoyable. In fact, nonsense rhymes serve an extremely useful purpose. Think of all those nursery rhymes that have been handed down through the generations.

Get a printer friendly pdf copy here ---> Edward Lear poem (I've been posting each poem above our dining table so we don't forget to read it every day.)

When I was a kid I had a book of Edward Lear's nonsense rhymes. It was filled with limericks that made me giggle. I don't remember most of them, but "There Was and Old Man with a Beard" is one that I can still recite from memory.

You may be familiar with Edward Lear's "The Owl and the Pussycat", a poem I also memorized as a kid. It's funny that I can remember things I learned as a kid more easily than things I memorized as an adult. More reason to introduce poetry to your kids right now!

Up Next: Week 4 of the Poetry Reading Challenge. Can you guess who the featured poet will be?

Extension Activities

While the only requirement of the poetry reading challenge is to read the poem out loud once a day for 7 days, this week's poem's begs for further activities.

• Memorize the limerick
• Write your own limericks (keep it clean, please!) based on you and your kids. "There was a young boy from New York...."; or "There was an Old Mom with a book..."
• Read more about Edward Lear
• Read "The Owl and the Pussycat",
• The Gutenberg Project has free digital copies of the works of Edward Lear. Some of them even have illustrations.

MORE: Funny poems for kids

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