I admit I’m a little biased, but I think childhood and poetry just seem to go together. With nursery rhymes and learning songs, children’s books of poetry, and the innocent penchant kids have for wanting to put words together in fun, playful ways–poetry is a natural in the parent’s arsenal of communication techniques.
If you don’t believe me, try making up a poem the next time you are talking to your child about getting dressed or putting away toys: “We are going to pick this up/ But we won’t feed it to the pup/ Instead we’ll put it in the bin/ Since that is what the toys go in.” As you can see, it doesn’t have to be Robert Frost. In fact, silly, simple and easy to repeat lines make for fine functional everyday poems. Talking in rhyme is one of the most surefire ways to not only get your child to listen to what you’re saying, but also to remember–words that fit together rhythmically have better chance of sticking with a person for more than three seconds.
In addition to being a fun and unpredictable way to communicate, I believe that interjecting poetry into your child’s life on a regular basis also helps to expand a child’s vocabulary and helps them learn language in a more accessible way. All you have to do is to look at the love children and adults alike have for the romping verse of Dr. Suess to see how influential poetry can be.
I don’t know if using doses of poetry with your children when they’re small, or exposing them to a diverse selection and type of poetry will turn them into poets themselves, or foster a great appreciation for the classics. But, I do like to believe that kids who have experienced the pleasures and fun of poetry will at least be open to it and not intimidated, “poetry-haters” as they age. Not to mention, we parents need all the tricks and tools we can gather for our parenting tool bag!