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Look for inspiration for your poem by reading the work of others, particularly poetry that has proven to be popular among children. There are several well known poems popular with children, including:  “Who Has Seen the Wind?” by Christina Rossetti.  “The Dentist and the Crocodile” by Roald Dahl.  “Daddy Fell Into the Pond” by Alfred Noyes. “About the Teeth of Sharks” by John Ciardi. Children often respond well to humor, especially imagery that conjures up a funny scene or situation. You may be able to generate content for your children’s poem by using an image you find funny or amusing. You could then expand on this image in your poem.  For example, maybe you ended up in the path of an angry pigeon on the way to work today. You may then use your amusing encounter with the pigeon as the source of inspiration for your poem. Children may enjoy a humorous retelling of how you managed to escape a persistent pigeon on a busy city street. You can also tap into your own childhood memories and interests as inspiration. Consider what made you laugh when you were young, and what made you curious or intrigued. Doing this can help you get into the mindset of a child and remember what topics made you giggle when you were young.  For example, maybe you enjoyed playing with plastic snake toys as a child. You may then remember when your brother tried to stuff a plastic snake up his nose and your attempts to help him remove it. This could then serve as the inspiration for a funny poem about plastic snakes in your nose. You can also take inspiration by trying to see a particular situation or scene from the point of view of your audience. Viewing a moment from the perspective of a child can help you to notice details or aspects that may be appealing to them. It can also allow you to describe the scene with creativity and imagination. For example, you may consider how a child might view going to the dentist for the first time. The dentist may appear to a child as a puffy swan in a white coat and the dentist chair might seem like a time machine. You may then be inspired to write a poem about a trip to the dentist that leads to an afternoon of time travel. Many children’s poems are written in the rhyming form, where the poem follows a certain rhyming scheme or pattern. Often, you do not need to rhyme every line of the poem, as this can sound contrived, even to children. Instead, you may rhyme only a few lines or words in the poem so there is just enough rhyme for it to sound fun and interesting to your young audience. For example, in Christina Rossetti’s poem “Who Has Seen the Wind?”, Rossetti only rhymes a few words in the poem, with “you” rhyming with “through” and “I” with “by”. This gives the poem just enough rhyme to have a sing song quality, without feeling overdone or too contrived. . Shape poems are great forms for children, as they create an interesting visual for children to look at on the page. Shape poems are often short and concise, as you are limited by the space available within the shape. This makes them good options for poetry written with children in mind. You may decide to do a type of shape poem that has a short number of lines, like a cinquain. This is a five line poem that appears in the shape of a diamond. It is often easy to write and fun to read. Many children’s poems are written with brevity in mind, as most children have a short attention span and like to be engaged right away. The haiku form, with its short form, is ideal for children’s poetry. Haikus follow a 5-7-5 pattern, with one line that is five syllables long, one line that is seven syllables long, and one line that is five syllables long.  You can also try the limerick form The limerick is a type of children’s verse that is known for being funny, ridiculous, and silly. These qualities make it an ideal option for a children’s poem.  Limericks are five lines long and have a set rhyme scheme. The first two lines rhyme with each other, the third and fourth lines rhyme with each other and the fifth line repeats the first line or rhymes with the first line. This rhyme scheme gives limericks a bouncy quality when spoken out loud. Some of the more well known limericks are the Mother Goose nursery rhymes. Often, limericks are meant to be silly and nonsensical, making them appealing to children.
Read examples of children’s poetry. Find inspiration. View a situation from the perspective of a child. Try the rhyming form. Make a shape poem Experiment with different forms.