Prompt: December 8

I spent all night thinking over that poem
And the beauty it conveyed.
The way the happy skaters swayed
And the bluejay preened as they gazed at him.
Let’s write a poem of our winter, here
And its beauty, fearless and gay.
Let’s share the story of all our cheer
We could even rhyme along the way!

Download the prompts for December 5-8 here as a PDF or here as a Microsoft Word Document. You can download the next set of prompts, for December 9-12, here as a PDF or here as a Microsoft Word Document.

An image of the Dec. 8 prompt card, printed on cream card stock with an orange border and an orange frog wax seal. The card is nestled in a lit Christmas tree.

Materials

Something to write on (a piece of paper, a tablet, etc.)

Something to write with (a pen, pencil, or tablet, etc.)

Activity

One of my favorite things to do with my kids is write poems with them. Poems are so free-form, that even though my oldest is still learning how to write, she feels confident in her skills.

To start, you might want to reflect on the poem we read yesterday. Ask your kids what they like about the poem. Then, have them start brainstorming what winter experiences they want to capture in their poem.

You might want to let them know that poetry:

Doesn’t have to rhyme
Can use invented spelling
Can be as short or long as they like
Can be funny! Or serious! Poetry can be about any emotion at all.

If your kiddo is stuck, you might suggest playing “Exquisite Corpse” (or a simplified version of the game). The game dates back to the Parisian Surrealist Movement, and you probably played a version of it in English class. Each player writes a line, then folds the paper to conceal it, then passes it to the next player. If you’re playing with younger children, you might just go back and forth saying words, while an adult writes them down into the poem. The point here is to get our kids to think creatively and playfully about their emotions, and also about how to communicate those emotions to other people.