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Poetry has so many benefits for kids. It is not only a great medium for rendering information but children also find poems very delightful. Poetry recitation and memorising is a fun activity that you can engage your kid in. Let’s take a look at some famous, funny and rhyming poems for kids. Along with that, we shall discuss how you can select a poem and teach your kid to recite it.
How to Select Poems for Kids?
The first and foremost thing of consideration is how to select a poem for kids. For that, you have to keep in mind that the aim of introducing poetry to a child is to help him/her appreciate and cultivate some admiration towards poetry. You should aim at rendering a positive approach towards poetry, thus, you should select a poem that is easy to remember and understand. You can pick up a topic that both, you and your kid relate to and enjoy together. Short poems are one of the best options to start with because they can be easily memorised and enjoyed by children. To help you begin, we have compiled different poems for your kid, which are fun to recite, but also have great instructional value for your kids.
Famous Short Poems for Children
If you want your kid to learn some famous poems, here is a compilation of some famous, fun poems for kids.
1. Mary Had a Little Lamb
Mary had a little lamb,
Little lamb, little lamb,
Mary had a little lamb,
Its fleece was white as snow,
And every where that Mary went,
Mary went, Mary went,
Everywhere that Mary went,
The lamb was sure to go;
He followed her to school one day,
School one day, school one day,
He followed her to school one day,
Which was against the rule;
It made the children laugh and play,
Laugh and play, laugh and play,
It made the children laugh and play,
To see a lamb at school,
And so the teacher turned him out,
Turned him out, turned him out,
So the teacher turned him out,
But still he lingered near,
And waited patiently about,
Patiently about, patiently about,
Waited patiently about,
Till Mary did appear;
“Why does the lamb love Mary so?
Mary so, Mary so,
Why does the lamb love Mary so?”
The eager children cried;
“Why Mary loves the lamb, you know,
Lamb you know, lamb you know,
Why Mary loves the lamb, you know”
The teacher did reply;
Mary had a little lamb,
Little lamb, little lamb,
Mary had a little lamb,
Its fleece was white as snow.
2. Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star
Twinkle, twinkle, little star,
How I wonder what you are.
Up above the world so high,
Like a diamond in the sky.
Twinkle, twinkle, little star,
How I wonder what you are!
When the blazing sun is gone,
When he nothing shines upon,
Then you show your little light,
Twinkle, twinkle, all the night.
Twinkle, twinkle, little star,
How I wonder what you are!
Then the traveler in the dark
Thanks you for your tiny spark;
How could he see where to go?
If you did not twinkle so.
Twinkle, twinkle, little star,
How I wonder what you are!
In the dark blue sky you keep,
While you through my window peep,
And you never shut your eye,
Till the sun is in the sky,
Twinkle, twinkle, little star,
How I wonder what you are!
3. Jack And Jill
Jack and Jill
Went up the hill
To fetch a pail of water,
Jack fell down
And broke his crown
And Jill came tumbling after.
Up Jack got
And home did trot
As fast as he could caper,
Went to bed
To mend his head
With vinegar and brown paper.
4. Baa, Baa Black Sheep
Baa, baa, black sheep,
Have you any wool?
Yes sir, yes sir,
Three bags full;
One for the master,
And one for the dame,
And one for the little boy
Who lives down the lane
5. Wee Willie Winkie
Wee Willie Winkie
Runs through the town,
Upstairs and downstairs
In his night gown.
Tapping at the window,
Crying at the lock,
“Are the children all in bed,
For it’s past ten o’clock?”
“Hey Willie Winkie,
Are you coming in?
The cat’s singing purring sounds
To the sleeping hen.
The dog’s spread out on the floor
and doesn’t give a cheep,
But here’s a wakeful little boy
who will not fall asleep.”
Anything but sleep, you rogue,
Glowering like the moon,
Rattling in an iron jug
With an iron spoon,
Rumbling, tumbling round about,
Crowing like a cock,
Shrieking like a I don’t know what,
Waking sleeping folk.
“Hey WIllie Winkie-
The child’s in a creel!
Wriggling off everybody’s kne
Like an eel.
Tugging at the cat’s leg,
Confusing all her thrums-
Hey Willie Winkie,
See, there he comes.”
Weary is the mother
Who has a dusty child,
A small, short little child
That can’t run on his own,
That always has a battle with sleep,
Before he’ll close an eye,
But a kiss from his rosy lips
Gives strength anew to me.
Short Funny Poems
Laughter is the best medicine and what better than tickling your kid’s funny bone with some short funny poems. Here, we have a few recommendations of funny poems for your kids that will surely crack them up, and they’ll be more than eager to learn them.
1. My Cat Is Fat
I’ve a cat named Vesters,
And he eats all day.
He always lays around,
And never wants to play.
Not even with a squeaky toy,
Nor anything that moves.
When I have him exercise,
He always disapproves.
So we’ve put him on a diet,
But now he yells all day.
And even though he’s thinner,
He still won’t come and play.
2. Topsy-Turvey-World
If the butterfly courted the bee,
And the owl the porcupine;
If churches were built in the sea,
And three times one was nine;
If the pony rode his master,
If the buttercups ate the cows,
If the cats had the dire disaster
To be worried, sir, by the mouse;
If mamma, sir, sold the baby
To a gypsy for half a crown;
If a gentleman, sir, was a lady,—
The world would be Upside-down!
If any or all of these wonders
Should ever come about,
I should not consider them blunders,
For I should be Inside-out!
Chorus
Ba-ba, black wool,
Have you any sheep?
Yes, sir, a packfull,
Creep, mouse, creep!
Four-and-twenty little maids
Hanging out the pie,
Out jumped the honey-pot,
Guy Fawkes, Guy!
Cross latch, cross latch,
Sit and spin the fire;
When the pie was opened,
The bird was on the brier!
3. A Mouse In Her Room
A mouse in her room woke Miss Doud
Who was frightened and screamed very loud
Then a happy thought hit her
To scare off the critter
She sat up in bed and just meowed.
A psychiatrist fellow from Rye
Went to visit another close by,
Who said, with a grin,
As he welcomed him in:
“Hello, Smith! You’re all right! How am I?”
A flea and a fly in a flue
Were caught, so what could they do?
Said the fly, “Let us flee.”
“Let us fly,” said the flea.
So they flew through a flaw in the flue.
A mosquito was heard to complain,
“A chemist has poisoned my brain!”
The cause of his sorrow
was paradichlorotriphenyldichloroethane.
4. McGallimagoo
My name is not McGallimagoo,
Although some would have you think.
All day long they call me this,
And I really think it stinks.
McGallimagoo come here to me
Mcgllimagoo sit down.
McGallimagoo is such a funny name,
But it always makes me frown.
So if you see me on the street,
Please don’t call me this.
Refer to me by my proper name,
Which is Mr. Hullibajiss.
Short Rhyming Poems
Whenever you plan on introducing poetry to your kid, it is recommended that you start with rhyming poems. The rhythmic pattern, similar sounding words, and repetition of words are easy for kids to memorise.
1. Two Little Dicky Birds
Two Little Dicky Birds,
Sat upon a wall.
One named Peter,
The other named Paul,
Fly away Peter.
Fly away Paul.
Come back Peter!
Come back Paul!!
2. Bed In Summer
In winter I get up at night
And dress by yellow candle-light.
In summer, quite the other way,
I have to go to bed by day.
I have to go to bed and see
The birds still hopping on the tree,
Or hear the grown-up people’s feet
Still going past me in the street.
And does it not seem hard to you,
When all the sky is clear and blue,
And I should like so much to play,
To have to go to bed by day?
3. My Doggy Ate My Homework
4. Monday’s Child
Monday’s child is fair of face,
Tuesday’s child is full of grace,
Wednesday’s child is full of woe,
Thursday’s child has far to go.
Friday’s child is loving and giving,
Saturday’s child works hard for a living,
And the child that is born on the Sabbath Day,
Is bonny and blithe and good and gay.
5. Little Jack Horner
Little Jack Horner
Sat in the corner
Eating his Christmas pie,
He stuck in his thumb
And pulled out a plum and said
“What a good boy am I
What a good boy am I”
Little Miss Muffet
Sat on her tuffet,
Eating her curd and whey;
Along came a spider,
And sat down beside her,
Frightened Miss Muffet away, oh yeah
Frightened Miss Muffet away
Little Jack Horner
Sat in the corner
Eating his Christmas pie,
He stuck in his thumb
And pulled out a plum and said
“What a good boy
What a good boy
What a good boy am I”
Tips to Teach Poems to your Child
As parents we sometimes underestimate the ability of our kids to memorise things. But we should not forget that our kids are like sponges and they have a great ability for remembering and retaining a great amount of information. However, we shall share some tips that will help you in teaching poetry to your kids:
1. Give it a Tune
Have you ever seen that music is better understood and retained by our minds in comparison to simple words. You can think of any catchy tune and help your kid learn the poem in that tune.
2. Modulate
Voice modulation plays an important role in remembering poems. You can pick up different scales and momentum for different paragraphs.
3. Act The Characters
If there are some characters in the poem, try enacting them. This will help your kid to memorise in a better way.
4. Erasing The Words
You can write the complete poem on the board and after reciting a few times with your kid, you can start erasing the words one by one.
5. Break Up The Poem
This is a good approach to helping your kid memorise a poem. Break the poem into paragraphs and teach it to your kid paragraph wise. However, if there are no paragraphs, you can divide the poem into lines.
6. Keep Repeating
Repetition is a great way of remembering things and the same applies to poems. Keep repeating until your kid memorises the poem by heart and then he/she will not forget it easily.
7. Explain It
It is seen that whenever you explain and give a valid logic to your kid, he/she will understand and remember things in a better way. You can explain the poem, in the form of a story, beforehand.
Poems are a great way to bond with your kid, while also teaching them something valuable. These poems can help kids build their language and speech skills as well.
Teach these all-time favourite poems to your child. These are easy-to-recite and your kid can quickly memorise them. Reciting these poems will improve your child’s speaking skills and confidence, too. However, you need to help your child explore his/her other talents as well, which will help prepare for the future. To hone additional skills in your child, subscription boxes are a good idea, which ensure a child’s all-round development, by means of play.
