Kids may struggle with understanding different types of poetry. For most children, poetry is elusive or abstract, something they do not know how to read, write or interpret. If you explain the basic types of poetry and provide examples of each kind of poem, you can open up a whole new world of literature to your child. Poetry takes simple storytelling and turns it into an adventure; a poem takes the recording of a flat experience and gives it dimension. While this list is not exhaustive, the following are some types of poems favored by children:
Cinquain Poetry
A cinquain poem is a five-line poem with a specific format. Cinquains are written as follows:
Kids like conquains because they are short, simple and focused.
Limerick Poetry
Limericks appeal to kids because of the cadence and the rhyming. Every limerick consists of five lines with a predictable cadence to the reading of the syllables. The first two lines and the last line should have nine syllables each; the third and fourth lines should have six syllables each. The last words of lines one, two and five must rhyme, and the last words of lines three and four must rhyme with one another.
Acrostic Poetry
Kids like acrostic poetry because it is easy for them to do. Acrostic poetry uses the letters in one word for the first letter of each line in the poem. Most popular are name acrostic poems, such as the following:
Eric
E - Exciting and energetic
R - Radical and ready
I - Innovative and intelligent
C - Creative and curious
Lyric Poetry
If you want to open your child up to writing romantic poetry, lyrical poetry is a good place to start, especially for budding songwriters. Lyrical poetry is essentially writing words to a song, only without it being set to music. The poet can decide what length or cadence the stanza should take; typically the last word in a line rhymes with another last word of another line, depending on which cadence and flow the poet chooses. Nursery rhymes are great examples of lyrical poems.
Free Verse
If your child wants to tell a story loosely or explore dark poetry, you might suggest free verse as a structure. With a free verse poem, you can take liberties of all sorts. Your child gets to write the poem without proper punctuation, by placing line breaks and spacing to indicate pauses anywhere the child likes. Many kids who struggle with observing structural limitations thoroughly enjoy writing free verse poetry.
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