Poetry OutdoorsOutdoor spaces and the natural environment can provide a great resource to stimulate creative thinking and poetry writing.

Check out National Poetry Day which tends to be in October:https://nationalpoetryday.co.uk/celebrate-national-poetry-day/

KenningsA kenning is the process of using a two-word phrase in the place of a one-word noun. Kennings were first used in Anglo-Saxon and Norse poetry eg battle sweat to describe blood, skull cleaver to describe an axe and ocean rider to describe a ship.

Start off with children can finding 2 words to describe a natural object / animal (without stating what it is). eg slug muncher for a hedgehog.

Once children get the idea they can create riddle poems, using 4 or more phrases.

eg Spikey rollerBeetle eaterSlug muncherWinter sleeper

Answer: A hedgehog

Children can then share their kennings with each other and can try and guess the object.

They could write their Kennings in chalk on the playground for others to read.

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CinquainsA cinquain is a short poem with a very clear form:

Line 1= the title, one word- the name of your person, place or thing (a noun) – 2 syllables.

Line 2 = two words describing your subject (adjectives) – 4 syllables. Line 3 = three ‘ing’ words. Words that tell what your subject does, such as

whispering, jumping, hiding - 6 syllables. Line 4 = a sentence about your subject - 8 syllables. Line 5= one word-it should be another name for your subject (noun) - 2

syllables.

egSnowflakeFrozen liquidFalling, drifting, dancingCovering everything in whiteBlizzard

Poem Hunt You will need: A poem cut into lines and laminated. (It is useful for each

group to collect all their text that is on a particular coloured paper).

Place the poem lines around your outdoor site eg hanging in trees, on the ground etc.

Children go round the site and collect the laminated strips. When they have collected all the text, can they order it to make the

complete poem?

Variation: Text Orienteering Use a map of your area to decide on good places to put each line of poem

mark them on the map. Give children a copy of the map, record sheet or blank paper to record the

poem lines onto. Children need to go around the orienteering course, copying each line of the

poem, including punctuation, onto their sheets. Back at base, children should cut up the record sheets and rearrange the

lines to create the poem.

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Websites:

10 Ideas for Creating Poems Outside.https://creativestarlearning.co.uk/literacy-outdoors/national-poetry-day-10-ideas-for-creating-poems-outside

Activities for writing, sharing and enjoying poetry outdoors.Further outdoor poetry ideas by Juliet Robertson.http://creativestarlearning.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/POETRY-–-OUTDOORS.pdf

Beach Stones Poetry Activities for Kids.Activities which combine writing poetry with beach pebbles.https://www.beachstonesinspired.com/beach-stones-poetry-activities.html

Outdoor Number Poems.Use the scaffold of ‘Number – Adjective – Alliteration – Noun’ to create effective number poetry.https://www.ltl.org.uk/resources/outdoor-number-poems

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utdoor Poetry.An outdoor activity providing a simple framework for poetry writing.https://www.ascreatives.com/teaching-resource-outdoor-poetry-activity

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