Rainy Day Poems for Kids
I put together a poetry unit study for my early literature class at our local Homeschooling Co-op, including book suggestions, ideas for early learning, poetry appreciation for kids, and rhyming activities that engage kids in learning and are a lot of fun. Enjoy some good rainy day fun with your preschool or early elementary homeschooling kids.
Poetry can be a lot of fun!
I read some short poems to my early literature class so the kids could hear and enjoy the rhythm of the words. The earlier you begin with poetry, the more they get used to the rhythm, enjoy and understand it, and may form a life long love for it. I chose poems to read to kids that are fun for young kids and about rain, since it was a rainy day, but you could use any poems that you enjoy.
Rainy Day Poems:
- “The Storm Starts..”. by Dr Seuss in his book Oh, Say Can You Say?
Because that one is so shor
t we also read: “How to tell a Klotz from a Glotz” by Dr Seuss, in the same book, just for fun! - “Rain” by Shel Silverstein in his book Where the Sidewalk Ends
- “The Wind Begun to Rock the Grass…” by Emily Dickinson in her book Poetry for Young People
- “Rain on the Green Grass…” by Mother Goose in the book My Very First Mother Goose
The kids were so enthusiastic that we read on in each book! They couldn’t get enough!
Another favorite of mine for young ones by Emily Dickinson is “A fuzzy fellow without feet…” in the same book mentioned above. You’ll have to look it up to see what creature she’s describing. There’s an illustration in the book, but I like to cover it and see if the kids can guess!
Other books and poems I recommend for reading young children poetry:
- Of course, much more from the authors I listed above as well as
- A Child’s Garden of Verses
by Robert Louis Stevenson
- Mad About Madeline: The Complete Tales, all six of them
by Ludwig Bemelmans
- for more, see this collection of Poetry Children’s Books
Enjoy these poems with your kids and for more poetry learning fun in your poetry studies, see these activities:
- Rhyming Match Game (coming next week! 4/1/17)
- Poetry and Rhyme Craft and Activities (coming Tues, 4/9/17)
For more great book suggestions for kids and learning books for your homeschoolers, follow our What to Read Wednesday series. We share our favorite books on a different topic every Wednesday.
Hey Mastilock,
Thank you for sharing with us!
Great ideas! I love the activities to go along with the reading. Another quick activity that works well for older kids is to write out the rhyming words in pairs and rip up those that are not spelled the same; it helps them associate chunks and word families versus those words that just sound same but are not related.
What a great idea! I’ll definitely try that one. I love fun and creative ways to get the kids reading
I LOVE IT! What great suggestions! I am getting these books for my kids. Poetry I haven’t really approached. these are great engaging activities!
GREAT IDEAS! My kids love book themed projects. I love watching their little minds make all the connections!
Me too! Makes it more fun and interesting
I am going to have to look up the Shel Silverstein poem since I own the book. I have had it since I was 8 or so. I've hardly cracked it. And I'm thinking that Dickinson is going to be our poet of the year next year.
found you via our google+ homeschool group btw.
Awesome! Thanks for letting me know where you found me and for commenting. Same here with Silverstein; had my book forever and wasn't sure my kids were old enough, but they love many of the poems in there! And I still do, too!
We love Rain on the Green Grass – our baby has responded to that one since the very beginning 🙂 Thanks for the other suggestions – I didn't realize that the Madeline series contained poetry – will check it out – thanks!
Not exactly poetry, but a fun rhyming story (Madeline).