How to Do a Winter Poem Activity With Children

Winter rhyming can be a fun way to talk about all the things that you like about the cold season.

Writing poetry can be intimidating for adults, but children naturally create uninhibited words of sweetness, beauty and humor when they are encouraged to become poets. You can also use this exercise to practice rhyming or introduce the concept of free verse poetry while discussing various aspects of winter. This poem project works well with a group or you can do it with a single child.

Things You'll Need

• Large notepad
• Easel
• Marker

Instructions

1. Arrange the children in a circle. You should sit on a chair next to the easel, while everyone else sits on the floor. Make sure that everyone can see the easel. If you are doing the project with just one child, then you can use a regular notebook and sit side by side at a table.

2. Ask the children what they like about winter. Write each thing on a separate page of the notepad. You will probably get things like snow, Christmas, sledding or presents. If the words look like they will be hard to rhyme--Christmas, for example--try to guide them toward easier words, such as Christmas tree.

3. Go through the pages of words and write words that rhyme with the head word on each page. You can decide how exact the rhymes need to be. If you cannot come up with a rhyme, then move on or take the opportunity to talk about free verse if the class is old enough.

4. Make up a couplet for each word. For example, if the word was snow, then the group should write a sentence about snow, and then a second sentence using one of the rhyming words. You can let children call out ideas or go around the circle. You might end up with something like this: "I love winter snow, so skiing I will go!" Once you have a couplet for each word, go back to the beginning.

5. Read your poem aloud. By flipping through the pages and reading each rhyming couplet aloud, you will demonstrate that the group has created a poem. This exercise helps demonstrate that anyone of any age can create fun, pretty poetry.

Tips & Warnings

• Have your group draw winter pictures to go with their poem, or have each child create their own poem based on the words that the group came up with.