Poems For Kids

Introduce Your Child To Poetry To Develop Their Vocabulary, Language And Reading Skills

Poetry is artistic writing, where the writer makes a play in words to evoke the reader’s imagination and emotions. Parents and educators often think it’s too soon to introduce poems for kids. Especially because a lot of poems have old-fashioned or archaic words, which might be difficult for a child to understand. But kids come across poetry quite often in their daily lives. From nursery rhymes to singalongs, Christmas carols to storybooks, children come across poems for kids often.

List Of Poems For Kids

Animal Poems For KidsFriendship Poems For Kids
Bedtime Poems For KidsFunny Poems For Kids
Cat Poems For KidsMom Poems For Kids
Christmas Poems For KidsNature Poems For Kids
Color Poems For KidsOcean Poems For Kids
Cute Poems For KidsRhyming Poems For Kids
Dog Poems For KidsShape Poems For Kids
Earth Day Poems For KidsSummer Poems For Kids
Easter Poems For KidsTree Poems For Kids
Fall Poems For KidsValentine’s Day Poems For Kids
Family Poems For KidsSpring Poems For Kids
Acrostic Poems For KidsEasy Poems For Kids
Thanksgiving Poems For KidsHalloween Poems For Kids
Winter Poems For KidsKindness Poems For Kids
Flower Poems For KidsAutumn Poems For Kids
Snow Poems For KidsNarrative Poems For Kids
Concrete Poems For KidsButterfly Poems For Kids
Birthday Poems For Kids

So, introducing poetry to little children is easier than you would think. Additionally, reading poems for kids has a lot of benefits too. From phonemic sounds to vocabulary, language skills to reading skills, poetry is an important resource that boosts kids learning.  It’s truly an invaluable tool that helps young readers in their literacy journey. Poems for kids also play a very crucial role in developing a child’s cognitive skills. 

How Are Poems Different From Other Forms Of Writing?

If poems are a form of literary work, what sets them apart from other forms of writing? The main thing that makes poems different is their structure. Poetry is arranged in the form of short lines or a group of lines, which are called stanzas. It also uses patterns of rhythms and sounds, figures of speech, alliteration, rhyming words, etc. 

Benefits Of Reading Poems For Kids

Poems are written in such a way that it leaves a lasting impression on our hearts and minds. The same goes for little kids. There are several different ways that poems for kids can leave a positive impact on them. Here are some ways that kids benefit from reading poetry:

  1. Speech development: As children read or recite nursery rhymes and poems for kids, they learn phonemic sounds, new words and how to sound them out. They also learn about voice, pitch and inflection. All these are vital for a child’s speech development. 
  2. Vocabulary building: Reading poems for kids or reciting nursery rhymes and participating in singalongs opens up a new world of words for kids. The more poetry they read and listen to, the more words they learn. This helps them build a wide and varied vocabulary.
  3. Reading Skills: Poetry is an invaluable tool to build a child’s reading skills. Poems for kids are shorter and less daunting compared to books. Additionally, they’re rhythmic, which makes it more fun and motivates kids to read. 
  4. Creativity and imagination: Poetry is about capturing the reader’s imagination. A poet does this by choosing words and arranging them carefully for their sound, meaning and rhythm. Poems also tell a story, usually have a few characters and follow a particular narrative structure. All of these together transport them to a new world and boost the child’s creativity, imagination and thinking skills.
  5. Listening skills: Poems for kids are also a great way to enhance your little one’s listening skills. Kids love listening to stories and poems are also a way of telling stories. As you read more and more poems to them, they learn to listen and observe carefully. 
  6. Understanding and processing emotions: Poems tell a story and it stirs a person’s emotions. Reading and reciting poems helps kids learn about emotions and feelings. It also helps them understand these emotions and process them.
  7. Better language skills: A poet makes a play on words to capture the audience’s interest. They have different forms of speech, adjectives, alliteration, onomatopoeia, rhyming words etc depending on the poet’s intent. Reading poems for kids helps them learn about all these different language skills and enhances their language skills too.

How To Choose The Perfect Poems For Kids

Looking to inspire a love of poetry in your little one? Then you need to learn to choose the perfect poems for kids that your child is sure to love. Here are some tips to help you choose the right poems that will inspire a life-long love of poems in your child.

  1. When choosing poems for kids, choose short and simple poems keeping in mind their short attention spans.
  2. Choose poems with a clear distinct rhyme and not abstract, freeform poetry.
  3. You can never go wrong with humor. Choose a silly or funny poem for kids over something too complicated.
  4. Choose a wide variety of poems but ensure they are on familiar topics like animals, holidays, seasons etc.
  5. Poems, which involve physical actions will be a great hit with kids. For example, the Hokey Pokey song.

With these tips, we’re sure you’ll pick the right poems for your little ones and inspire a love of poetry in no time at all. Check Osmo for more activities, literacy games for kids and worksheets to aid in your kids learning.