Poetry Teatime: Double the fun!
We have TWO teatimes to share today! The first is from Brave Writer newbie, Ksenia:
We recently started Poetry Teatime, a Brave Writer Activity. The children loved the first one so much that we decided to do it again, Hallowe’en-style.
Dd’s project has been making baked desserts recently. For the last tea time, she made lemon tarts…yum! This time she wanted to make a Hallowe’en-themed treat for tea time, and after deliberating she chose to make shortbread cookies with icing. We picked Martha’s shortbread cookies and her Royal icing. A warning about her cookies – read the recipe through first to figure out if you have time for them! Dd is getting really comfortable in the kitchen lately.
We set the table with a candles, including a “dripping blood” one, spooky napkins, and a dreadfully wilted bouquet. Tea was peppermint with honey and sugar cubes, with pumpkin-iced cookies and Hallowe’en candy. Dd’s cookies were perfect!
Even though they can read, the children enjoy it when I read for them. I had picked out a stack of poetry books from the library a few days before.
Ten-year-old ds preferred the poems from Cobwebs, Chatters, and Chills: A Collection of Scary Poems compiled by Patricia M. Stockland. The poems are short and easily read. At the bottom of each page, there’s a little blurb that draws attention to the poem type (haiku, limerick, etc.) or elements including onomatopoeia, rhythm, metaphor, etc. Seven-year-old dd indulged in too much candy and was distracted from poetry by a sore tummy. My favourite was the 1907 book Cautionary Tales for Children by Hilaire Belloc. School Library Journal describes these as “sprightly little rhymes that speak of the foibles of children and the horrible consequences thereof”. Loving British humour as I do, I really appreciated them. They are best for children who aren’t overly sensitive however. Also enjoyable was Vile Verses by Roald Dahl. His poetic critique of Goldilocks and the Three Bears had us amused.
Sharing poetry has proven to be a lovely activity for a lazy autumn afternoon.
Next, Mara sent us this adorable video with Dahlia and McKenna. So cute!
Image and video (cc)
