Fun with Poetry, for Kids!

Hi children,

My name is Angela Yardy and I have great fun with poetry, but I was 38 years old before I discovered that I liked it!  I missed out on years of fun with poetry, so I intend to give children everywhere the chance to discover it much earlier.

Poetry is everywhere, but we just aren’t aware of it: Adverts, songs, stories, and lots more.  I have just read my favourite book from when I was 6 years old (Smoke and Fluff, by A J MacGregor), and realised that it is a story poem, all told in rhyme.  Apparently I’ve always loved poems, but just never knew!

Anyway, the problem with starting writing now is that I am an adult and I’m supposed to be grown up and mature……..Oh well!  If you look at my funny poems and silly poems (and if you read my book “The Good, The Mad and The Ugly) you’ll see that I really don’t go along with that!  If you have any childish ideas for poems that a poor sensible grown up like me can’t think up on my own, just email me and I’ll see what I can do.

I have separated this website off so that I can talk to teachers, children and beginner poets, but the truth is, you all need to know the same thing: “How can poetry be fun?” Therefore if you would like to teach yourself to write poetry just go to the TEACHERS’ PAGE and look through the teaching there.  After all, if you teach yourself, then you are a teacher!

 One final really handy hint:

If you write your poetry at a computer, have the website www.rhymezone.com open to help you find alternative words or to help you find rhyming words, synonyms (same meaning), antonyms (opposite meaning) and lots more.  In other words it acts as a dictionary, rhyming dictionary and a thesaurus all at the same time.

These are also great poetry websites you might like to try later.  The first is a children’s poet who has become a good friend of mine.

http://www.josiespoems.webeden.co.uk/    and the second is great for inspiring shape poems