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You are here: Home / Projects / Crafts and Projects for Kids / Brightening Winter with Poetry Collages

Brightening Winter with Poetry Collages

January 13, 2011 By Sarah Small · PRINTABLES TIP: Always go toward the end of a post to find the printable. · Disclosure: This Post May Contain Affiliate Links. {I may be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking on my links.}

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Looking out my window

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January and February: the nemesis months of homeschooling families. Parents and kids alike suffer from after-holiday blues, burn-out, cabin fever, and general malaise. It’s time to shake things up a little bit—to add a bit more flavor to your daily regime.

Creating something beautiful is a great way to shake off the winter “blahs.” How about combining words with artwork? Kids of all ages love to write poetry, even if they don’t know it yet, and simple art can provide a satisfying addition to a poem.

Form poetry—poetry that follows a particular pattern— is a perfect way to introduce writers of all ages to the magic of words. There are dozens of different types of form poetry, from acrostics to tongue twisters. Try picking a few of these types and working together to write several poems about a single subject.

Please don’t worry about spelling or grammar. Let your kids have fun with poetry writing. You may wish to brainstorm all kinds of words that go with your theme before you begin and leave the list somewhere visable.

For example, January is a great time to have a theme of “winter.” Spend about 10 minutes or so brainstorming with your kids until you just can’t think of any more words. If you have a whiteboard or chalkboard, leave this list up until you are done with this theme. So you may have a list of 50 words or more that have something to do with winter.

Next, work together to come up a set of poems about winter. You can all work together on each poem, or everyone can do his or her own project. With younger children, I often write while the child dictates a poem.

You might start with an acrostic poem, like this:

W ind blowing

I cy sidewalks

N estled in bed

T eapot whistling

E mbers in the fireplace

R osy cheeks

How about adding an ode (a poem in honor of someone or something very important to you):

Oh, snow!

How I longed for you!

How I wished to see you pile up outside my window,

To sled on your slick whiteness,

To taste you on my tongue!

And now,

I wish only for your departure.

And of course you’ll need a haiku, with its pattern of five syllables, seven syllables, five syllables:

January days

Stretch on endlessly

Trapping us inside.

And finish up with a cinquain, which follows this pattern:

  • Line 1: One word (noun or name)
  • Line 2: Two adjectives describing Line 1
  • Line 3: Three verbs telling what Line 1 does
  • Line 4: Four words telling more about Line 1
  • Line 5: Word that means the same as Line 1

Frosty

White, cold

Sitting, smiling, melting

On the snowy hillside

Snowman.

Once you have your poems finished, put them all together into artwork! Kids love to make poetry/art collages.

The photo above shows a collage on the theme “candy” that was made by my third grader. If your child wrote a haiku about a snowflake, for example, have her cut out a paper snowflake and then write the haiku on it. A cinquain about a snowman could be written on a simple snowman made out of white paper. Write the acrostic out in bright colors. Now glue everything on a poster board or sheet of construction paper, and you’ll have a collage of beautiful creations to brighten your winter.

Don’t stop with just one theme or a few forms of poetry. These sites all have definitions and examples of many types of form poetry.

  • Forms of Poetry
  • Poets’ Path
  • Poetry for Kids

Now get started with your own creations!

Sarah Small has been writing poetry most of her life and homeschooling for 11 years. She has her master’s degree in creative writing. She writes about homeschooling, family, and life in general at SmallWorld at Home. She also offers SmallWorld’s WordSmithery, an ongoing series of free creative writing lessons. Top photograph by tillis4.

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Filed Under: Crafts and Projects for Kids, Poetry, Writing

Previous Post: « Writing Thank You Notes
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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Amy says

    January 13, 2011 at 8:49 am

    Thank you for the post. This a great way to battle the winter blehs. But I just thought I’d mention your second line in your winter haiku has just five syllables 😉

    Reply
    • Sarah at SmallWorld says

      January 13, 2011 at 9:38 am

      Ha-ha! Sure does! That’s what I get for writing while in relaxed-vacation mode! How about “stretch on and on endlessly”!

      Reply
  2. Rana says

    January 13, 2011 at 9:44 am

    I like this. I have been wanting to write poems with my kids. Today is a nice cozy day to try, sitting by the fire and looking out the window at the snowy day.

    Reply
  3. Jimmie says

    January 13, 2011 at 6:08 pm

    What wonderful ideas. I guess I’m odd, but on dreary winter days, WINTER is the last thing I want to write poetry about. I like the CANDY idea, though! Bring on the chocolate and atomic fire balls. 🙂

    Reply
  4. Grateful for Grace says

    January 14, 2011 at 12:38 am

    Great idea! We just might do this tomorrow, even though (gasp) we don’t ‘have’ school. 😉

    Reply

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Meet Angie

Angie, mom to three very fun kids, is the founder of Real Life at Home.  With degrees in elementary education (B.A.) and special education (M.S.Ed.), as well as being a former homeschooler, she is passionate about supporting both parents and teachers by providing printables, crafts, and activities to help children learn and grow. Read More…

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