National Poetry Day is providing free downloadable resources to help early years practitioners celebrate the day and to encourage the enjoyment of poetry in young children.
Written by poet Mandy Coe, the resources provide a practical guide to helping children create their own work and understand the structure of poetry. They are designed to engage children through activity sheets based on a broad range of sample poems specially chosen for different age groups, including early years.
Jo Bell, co-ordinator of National Poetry Day, says, 'Poetry is a form of wordplay; it was invented to help us remember stories, from Jack and Jill right up to the Odyssey. Even the smallest child can enjoy poetry through singing and nursery rhymes, and the skills that they gain in literacy and language use will last through their lives.'
The downloadable activity sheets include links to audio poems, games, music and even paintings from which to draw inspiration. Topics, linked to this year's theme of home, include the habitats of animals, home-sweet-home, dream homes, home life, leaving home, returning home, homelessness, and being far from home.
All the resources will be available on the National Poetry Day website from Monday 13 September.
POETRY COLLECTIONS
As well as the website resources, there are various collections available that provide excellent introductions to poetry for young children.
A recent addition, published in June this year, is Don't Wear It On Your Head, Don't Stick It Down Your Pants: Poems for Young People by John Siddique (Salt Publishing). Another recent title is John Foster's Whizz, Bang, Orang-Utan, published in May this year and intended as a companion book to his wonderful compilation, Twinkle, Twinkle, Chocolate Bar.
John Foster edited A First Poetry Book and his First Verses series of books, illustrated by Carol Thompson, include Finger Rhymes, Bedtime Rhymes, Playtime Rhymes, Action Rhymes and Counting Rhymes. All are published by Oxford University Press.
Other titles include:
- Poems for the Very Young selected by Michael Rosen and illustrated by Bob Graham (Kingfisher Books)
- What I Like! Poems for the very young by Gervase Phinn and illustrated by Jane Eccles
- Nonsense Animal Rhymes by Kaye Umansky and Chris Fisher (Oxford University Press)
- Wriggle and Roar! Rhymes to join in with by Julia Donaldson and Nick Sharratt (Macmillan Children's Books)
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