Have Fun With Children’s Poetry by Leslie Halpern

Have Fun with Children’s
Poetry

By Leslie C. Halpern

When I tell people that I’m president of the Orlando
Area Poets, write children’s poetry books, perform with a poetry ensemble, and once
worked with a Shakespearean acting troupe, they usually roll their eyes and tell
me they don’t like poetry. That’s usually because as children they never
learned to understand the language of poems.

Adults can make poetry fun and educational for children
by introducing age-appropriate poems to youngsters in entertaining ways.
Infants respond to hearing rhymed poems and looking at illustrations. As soon
as a child can speak, he or she can explain what pictures mean and guess what happens
next. By being active listeners, children learn to decode language at an early
age and develop a life-long love of words. Adding sounds effects as you read to
children (such as making funny sounds, reading with an accent, including…