The power of poetry to develop your child's brain
Does poetry make you think of stuffy, overwrought passages written in times gone by, largely by men? If so, you might not be thrilled by World Poetry Day this week. Perhaps poetry was your least favourite part of English at school. But in recent years, poetry has grown in popularity and we can understand why.
Poets such as Hollie McNish and Rupi Kaur have made poetry more accessible, writing about topics that resonate with modern-day readers, such as mental health and motherhood. Instagram has allowed people to share their poetry more easily and these words are full of feeling. Poetry is a way to connect with others, feel less alone and express things that are difficult to express. And for parents, tired and with limited time, poetry can be a gentle alternative to reading a longer book.
Studies are also showing that reading or writing poetry (no matter how good it is) can be good for your mental health.1 By analysing studies into poetry from the past two decades (some with admittedly small sample sizes, so more research will need to be done), the studies found that reading or writing expressively through poetry has clear benefits.
These include improving mood (both in the long and short term) and working memory, increasing the ability to cope with stresses and lowering levels of tension in the body.[1]
Poetry for children
Whether you have a newborn baby or an almost-five-year-old, poems, just like stories, are a fantastic opportunity for your child to hear the sounds and rhythms of language.
Consider nursery rhymes, which are basically poems that are sung. They’ve been around for hundreds of years and were originally created to remember important and interesting things, as it’s known that rhyme and rhythm can help memory. Singing nursery rhymes or reading poems to your baby can help create strong foundations for all sorts of development, especially speech, language and communication. Gentle repetition helps to build up your baby’s awareness of words and sounds.
And weaving a bit of poetry into your day as a parent might be easier than you think. You could read your child a whole rhyme, reading from a book or your phone, or just make up a couple of lines of your own to describe a particular activity you are doing. For example, during a nappy change,
“Let’s wipe your bum, let’s wipe your bum, let’s wipe your bum then stick out your tongue.”
This might bring a new understanding of language for your child. Over time, as they grow, they might then explore the words by repeating them, acting them out or telling you what they thought about them.
With slightly older children, poetry can also be a way to practise mindfulness, slowing down and being in nature. You might say a few lines together as you follow your breath or make up a poem about a leaf you follow down the stream. At the very heart of poetry is noticing, imagining, and rooting out feeling. Children often do this without any encouragement, and our job is to give them the opportunities to do so. You could encourage your child to tap into their senses when digging in the garden or describe what they see in the clouds. Children are amazing at metaphors and similes because they don’t have to try to produce them!
Of course, poems don’t need to rhyme but rhyme does makes them easy to remember, meaning a short poem or a few lines of a poem can be great to learn together. Or with slightly older children, you could even make your own poems up. You could be at the park or in the bath, and they can be as silly or as sensible as you like.
As well as being good fun, even for babies, the poems, rhymes and songs you sing will be laying the foundations for talking, reading and writing. Not to mention that they might just provide you with a much-needed break from reading the same few picture books over and over.
Poetry for adults
Even if you never show anyone else, why not try sitting down and writing a poem one day this week? You don’t have to follow any particular format, although if having a structure helps, why not try starting with a haiku or a limerick? Writing about how you feel, what you see or just any old words that come to you might allow you to express, and process, your thoughts in a new way.
And if you fancy reading some poetry but don’t know where to start then an anthology is a good option, as where you can explore lots of different writers and styles. Something like The Emma Press Anthology of Motherhood, a beautiful anthology of poems all based around motherhood, would be a great starting point.
A few of our favourite children’s poetry books
There are so many fantastic poetry books for children, and your library is a great place to start. Here are some of our favourites.
Poems Aloud by Joseph Coelho. This one is really good fun to read. A collection of poems you will love reading to your little ones and before long they will be wanting to join in with you. The second volume looks great, too.
Cops and Robbers by Janet Ahlberg and Alan Ahlberg. A classic that hasn’t lost any of its joy.
Hairy Maclary by Lynley Dodd. Any of the Hairy Maclary books get our vote.
All Join In by Quentin Blake. Another collection that will have you smiling.
I Am the Seed that Grew the Tree by Fiona Waters. A nature poem for every day of the year. Suitable for children and adults of all ages, with beautiful illustrations, this is the type of book you will treasure for a long time.
Blow a Kiss, Catch a Kiss by Joseph Coelho. Heart-warming and full of feeling, your toddler will adore this.
The Lost Words by Robert MacFarlane and Jackie Morris. This visually stunning collection of spell poems is hypnotically beautiful for adults and children alike. Full of words relating to the natural world, this will inspire you to explore outdoors together and to embrace the wildness of childhood.
1 1] Xiang DH, Yi AM. (2020) ‘A Look Back and a Path Forward: Poetry's Healing Power during the Pandemic’. J Med Humanit. 41(4):603-608
