Developed and presented by Meg Winikates for the Massachusetts Poetry Festival 2017. Highlights traits of successful children's poets with examples, shares quotes from children's poet laureates, and offers writing prompts to try themes and techniques for yourself.

1. On Beyond Giggles:
Writing Children's Poetry
Workshop by Meg Winikates
Massachusetts Poetry Festival 2017

2. “Children spend their whole lives talking,
listening, reading, and dreaming in one
language (or more, if they are lucky), so why
not encourage them to do all those things in
the most pleasurable possible way—with
poetry. Great poetry is a circus for the brain.”
J. Patrick Lewis, 2011 Children’s Poet Laureate

3. Writing for a Young Audience:
What’s Different?
• Rhythm and rhyme (not) required?
• Relationship of text to image
• Silly yes, surprising great, obscure no
• Children are good at spotting fakers

4. Real words and rare
words,
big words are the
best words
(especially the funny
sounding ones)
by Jack Prelutsky,
from Ride a Purple
Pelican

5. Classic writers on
classic themes
(construction
vehicles, dinosaurs,
and toys a plus!)
by Edna St. Vincent
Millay, from Poetry
for Young People
series

6. Seasonality:
Playing with
everyday
experience
by John J. Muth,
from Hi, Koo!

7. Dragons,
Unicorns,
and Talking
Trees:
Playing with
Imaginary
Beasts
Illustration by Eric
Carle, from Dragons,
Dragons

8. “Our concerns as adults and as children are not
so different. We want to be surprised,
transformed, challenged, delighted,
understood…Poetry is a rangy, uncontainable
genre—it is a place for silliness and sadness,
delight and despair, invention and ideas (and
also, apparently, alliteration).”
Matthea Harvey

9. Don’t be
afraid of the
dark:
Playing with
the gross and
scary
by Shel Silverstein

10. What did you say?
Interactive Poetry
You Read to Me, I’ll
Read to You by Mary
Ann Hoberman

11. Concrete Poetry:
Playing with shapes on the page
by Joyce Sidman,
from Meow, Ruff

12. Tell us about
your favorite
poem
remembered
from
childhood

13. “Whatever may be said
about this small but
graceful art, three
things should be
remembered: good
poems for children are
never trivial; they are
never written without
the characteristic chills
and fever of a dedicated
man at work; they must
never bear the stigma of
‘I am adult, you are a
child.’''
David McCord

14. Your Turn!
Poetry Starters for Children’s Poems
Inspired Jack Prelutsky, Read a Rhyme,
Write a Rhyme

15. Animals, Emotions, and Empathy
Turtle Poemstart from
Prelutsky
Because I am a turtle,
A shell protects my hide.
Because I am a turtle,
I feel secure inside.
Because I am a turtle,
_______________________________
Pick an animal (or use
the poemstart here)
and use that animal’s
characteristics to write
about their imagined
emotional state.

16. Silly Sounds and Surprises
“Food” Poemstart from Prelutsky
I’m hungry, so I think that I
will have a piece of penguin pie.
When that is finished, I will eat
A _______________________________
Write a poem about food,
using the silliest sounding real
foods and the most surprising
imaginary foods you can come
up with.

17. Identity and Imagination
“Myself” Poemstart from
Prelutsky
I’m bigger than a bumblebee,
I’m smaller than a whale.
I’m slower than a cheetah,
I’m faster than a snail.
I’m ______________________________
How many ways can you
describe your (persona’s) place
in the world and sense of self?
Get creative!

18. Thanks for playing with words with me!
• Find these slides on http://mwinikates.com
• Check out my interdisciplinary education blog
here: http://brainpopcorn.com
• Find me on Twitter: @mwinikates
• Please share your playful poems!