Poetry Teatime: Set the stage for poetry
My family has been trying to include Poetry Teatime in our week. We are seeing wonderful benefits to it! I have a large family with eight children ranging in age from 12 years down to 6 months old. I wondered how I could make poetry work for such a span of interests and understanding. After diving into I’m happy to report the water’s warm and cozy.
We set the stage for poetry with a tablecloth, candles, and a treat of some sort. On this day it was pumpkin muffins. I brought to the table:
- Collected Poems by Emily Dickenson
- A B C Go, the first volume from Collier’s Junior Classics library, which I remember reading as a child.
- The Children’s Treasury of Classic Poetry
- The Voyage of the Dawn Treader by C.S. Lewis, a book we were reading aloud as a family.
While the children ate I read poems, beginning with Dickenson while all the mouths were full and little ones would listen. Then we read a few poems from the other, illustrated books. Some were funny, others fit the snow and cold outside our door.
Poetry finished, we dived back into Narnia and chapter fourteen, The Beginning of the End of the World. My children marveled over the stars turned human, giggled at Reepicheep’s squeaky voiced courage, and debated if they would have gone on with Caspian to the end of the world or not.
Later that afternoon a few children stole away with the poetry books to read in their beds. Their younger siblings snuggled down next to them. That is the most telling moment of all. Is poetry teatime for all ages? Yes.
Thank you for Brave Writer’s encouragement!
Tristan
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Love this, I am inspired to have teatime in our home as well. My kids have been asking for tea lately and I have all these great poetry books, with no idea when or how to start. Thanks so much for sharing!