Why is poetry important for children?

Asking a child to write a poem is like playing a game of chess. Not quite but on the same lines. It’s a complex affair with its rhymes, assonance structures and more but for a child, the rules can be bent a little. To answer the question of how can creating a poem help a child – a poem when written is intended for the purpose of visually depicting feelings through wordplay. If a child can learn how to play with words, they’ve just entered the phase where the brain is challenged and is growing as the child continues to write poetry.

Give your child the value of life in its true sense. When your child grows up, the wisdom and perspective that they hold should be based on a strong foundation. This will help them understand what to base their decisions. Most often, critical and complicated conundrums in life will be thrown their way. Certain limiting factors of a situation may hinder their capacity to make sound decisions. It is in these times that the values you instilled in them will help them take a step forward in the right direction.

What are these values and how does one instil them in a child?

It’s simple.

Teach your child to write poems.

How do you help a child write a poem?

There’s no right or wrong at this stage. Don’t let the rules strictly apply to your child but simply encourage your child to think and write what they truly feel. There is wisdom in their heart and perspective in their mind. So, what comes out will surprise you as a parent.

Ask a child to look at an object or a place. Let them look at it and write about it. It could be their favourite toy or a blanket. You could even ask them to look at you and write what they feel when they look at you.

Consider asking them to write about their playtime and how they feel about it. Who do they like to play with and what happens when they play together? Just asking these questions will ensure that the child pours out their feelings onto paper.

This is not just an activity to help them develop the skill to write but to think and write, think again, and finally, develop a sense of expressing their feelings.

As a child is put into the habit of constantly writing their feelings in stanzas or even in paragraphs of their choice, they will develop the ability to inadvertently think deeper. There will be a time when you will have to tell the child to think deeply about what they feel and describe it differently. Do not hesitate to ask a child to perform tasks that are a little more complex. They may or may not be able to perform well but they will certainly take this lesson with them and their minds will develop accordingly over the years.

The art of writing a poem will help a child in several ways. One of them is that they develop a strong command over the language they use for writing; including formulating a sentence uniquely. They will develop the skill to communicate better as compared to kids who have not learnt to write poems. This holds true for reading books as well.

So, why is poetry important for children? They develop a sense of deep and intellectual thinking. This helps them to come to a more informed decision about other things in life. They are also able to understand situations better than those who have not learnt poetry. This is because of the involvement of conscious and deeper thinking.

When it comes to making complex decisions, the ability to think deep will see your child through some very difficult moments in life. You certainly, as a parent, will notice that your child has grown into a good human being with a heart of gold and a mind of sound reasoning. Hence, including the habit of a poem to your child is an integral part.